The Unsung War (東方 x GKE Universe)
by CombatSniper32
Summary: During the events of NanoTec,"First Contact", Kestrel-001 was scouting the Lolite homeworld, Cela, after the loss of two scout probes. The mission failed catastrophically and the Elite Squad of Four, was marooned on the planet's northen hemisphere. The inhabitants called the strange land "Gensokyo" which had ties to the late planet Earth. An unexpected clash of Touhou and Science!
1. Unexpected Landing

**Author Note / Disclamer:** Thank you for choosing to read this crossover. It is not finished as of 18th July 2016 and will be updated regularly. Touhou Project is created by ZUN, head of Team Shanghai Alice and all rights are reserved to him and those relevant. I do not own the series. I however, own this crossover and GKE Universe. GKE Universe is a Sci-Fi story I am writing on Wattpad at " **story/42015513** " All rights are reserved to me regarding this and you can PM me if there are any questions.

Special thanks to "IceOriental123" and Keiron Wong for GKE Universe. BTW, don't tell them I am writing this. They will kill me!

* * *

 **Lolite:** Humanoid creatures found native on Cela. They declared war on NanoTec, a human colony on Sirrea in the Small Magellanic Cloud, about the time as this story takes place.

 **RIG:** Short for "Real-Time Intelligence Gear" The staple equipment for all NanoTec operations. It measures vital signs, mental stability, heart rate, blood sugar levels, lactic acid build-up, blood levels, etc... It also displaces this information holographically and can act as a HUD for combat purposes.

 **NanoTec:** Read my story on WattPad to find out. It is too long to explain their history, ideals, purpose whatnots.

 **Loa:** The Lolite's official bureaucratic language of administration. It is typically very high pitched and spoken very quickly.

* * *

Unexpected Landing

Alone in the darkness, atop an isolated hill stood a Shinto shrine. The shrine was not unique. It was of average size and average layout and poorly maintained. The courtyard was silent, not a single creature stirring but a shrine maiden standing alone by the Torii gate. The sky was slightly overcast but was clear enough to see the stars in the night sky. Amongst those stars, was one out of place. In fact, it had never been there before. That star, blazed a bright orange trail of fire, streaking across the sky beautifully. The shrine maiden watched silently as it plummeted, disappearing beyond the horizon.

"Something's not right..." she mumbled to herself before retreating back into the shrine.

Tylo awoke to the sound of ringing in his ears and when he opened his eyes, his vision was blurred and he could not focus on his surroundings. Feeling around, he noted that his body was laid flat on a poly-foam crash bed with his harness strapping him down. Three other people lay next to him, Tylo's squad mates, in what seemed to be a circular room. His whole body ached, from his neck, down to his feet.

"Get off this ship! Now!"

His captain's last words resonated within his mind as he pushed him into the only functional escape pod before the ship's backbone snapped and the burning aft portion of the cruiser plunge into the atmosphere of the alien planet with the captain still on board. He undid his safety gear and pushed himself into a sitting position before opening his RIG systems.

Vital state: 80%, Blue. Mental state: 50%, Yellow, disturbed. Tylo nodded subconsciously before looking out of the pod's windows. The window behind him revealed a misty lake stretching across into the distance with a blur shadow of what seemed to be a castle along the horizon. The one to his left, revealed a stretch of burnt trees and unearthed soil with metal/ plastic scraps littering the path. He did not bother to look out of the other windows.

"Sunrise, orange sky, white clouds… Oxygen atmosphere. Next thing, I have to find out where we are on this planet… Compass is going haywire, it's spinning too much. Latitude, longitude checks… Too many forests blocking the way. Right..."

Suddenly, something brushed past the starboard hull of the pod. Whatever it was, it was murmuring something in a high pitch, unintelligible language. Tylo immediately jumped to the window to his right and saw nothing but blackness outside.

"Yonso-oni wa ~."

The thing spoke. Tylo's automatic translator picked up the sound instantly and added it to its vocabulary. Each window became dark and see through repeatedly as the creature walked, or flew rather, around the pod several times. Tylo then slowly, flicked a few commands on his RIG and, the locker above his crash mat opened immediately, revealing his battle RIG, consisting of a Buzzard-jump suit, rifle, carbon blade and a bulky, heavy and yet reliable fusion jetpack. The creature outside began scratching or biting at the hull. The resultant screeching was unnerving.

The screeching eventually faded away. Tylo swallowed his saliva with an audible gulp and looked out of the windows. None were clouded with darkness this time.

"What the hell..." he mumbled to himself as he took his rifle off the opened locker. A SMGP-98, Assault rifle with an extendable barrel for sniping. With a pull of a lever, the pod hatch blew off with a cloud of white smoke. The air was fresh and cool, the smell of dew spilled into the pod. Tylo poked his head out and scanned his surroundings again. Nothing. Whatever that was, Tylo thought to himself, if he was caught out in the open by that thing again, he would be dead.

A few minutes passed without incident and within that time, the rest of Tylo's squad mates rose from their slumber. They were clearly in as much pain as he was. Tylo confirmed their status. All blue. They stepped out of the pod in silence, holding their full battle gear under their arms as they left.

"Where are we now sir?!" Moho, the grenadier exclaimed, seemingly in distress.

"Calm down. We are on Cela. The Lolite homeworld. No idea where on the surface though… Miyu?"

The engineer of the squad looked up instinctively.

"Miyu, go and try the… no, the distress beacon would reveal our location. Try the localized radio. See if you can get a hold of another one of our ships."

"Roger." She replied and entered the pod again before coming out almost immediately. "Nothing sir. There is a strong magnetic field in this area and there is nothing but static."

Tylo nodded and was about to reply before he noticed a huge black sphere flying towards the group and a breakneck speed. It uprooted shrubs and short grass in it's path. Not again! Tylo immediately dodged out of the way and escaped death. Barely. Tylo clutched a gash on his left shin as he watched the black ball approach slowly. He squinted his eyes… The ball was shedding it's dark layer. Tylo and the rest of his squad waited in anticipation, guns ready.

The ball of darkness eventually dissipated completely and floating in it's place was a little girl, or a small humanoid with female features with her arms spread out perpendicularly to her body. She or whatever it was had short blonde hair with a little red ribbon tied onto her hair which hung near her left temple. She wore a black vest and skirt, and white blouse with a red tie bordered by two large red beads around her neck. Her optical orbit was enlarged, both eyes taking up nearly 20% of her face, normal for a typical Lolite. Her rounded face showed a smile, seeming to be one of hunger rather than of curiosity.

"Naathdarae?" She spoke calmly as she tilted her head slightly.

"Go on… Keep talking." Tylo mumbled to himself, all the while looking down the sights.

"Nani iotet rui?" The girl spoke again, this time sounding impatient.

"Yes… Keep speaking…" Tylo again mumbled to himself as his translator made a satisfying 'beep' noise, signifying the successful translation of the Loa dialect.

"I am Rumia! *error * of Darkness. Who are you?!"

"There we go." Tylo said. "You can understand me right?"

"Of course! I haven't seen you people around before. Did you all come in that?" Rumia pointed at the half destroyed escape pod.

"Yes we did." The previously silent, final member of Tylo's squad, Skye, special munitions, spoke. "Why have you attacked us?"

"Why, that's because I am hungry." Rumia replied cheerfully.

Everyone was stunned. Especially Miyu, who nearly fell to her knees. Rumia began speaking again.

"Is that so ~. Well, I want to enjoy my meal, so keep quiet. This won't hurt a bit..."

With that, the ball of darkness re-enveloped Rumia and with one quick swoop, Tylo was in the air upside down. He was within the black sphere and could not see a thing. A sharp pain suddenly shot through his left ankle as teeth sunk deep into his flesh.

"Agh! Let me go you little..."

Raising his rifle, Tylo held down the trigger and fired away, spraying lead in all directions. Rumia screamed as the sound of metal impacting flesh echoed in Tylo's ears. He soon found himself falling straight down into the forested area. With a little luck, he fell into the canopy of a large tree, branches breaking his fall. He tumbled through the follage and landed on his back, the shock of the impact shaking his entire body, leaving him stunned. Miyu was the first person to find him.

"Are you OK? She got you good… Can you stand?"

Tylo lifted his finger. It was twitching eccentrically. "Yeah… Maybe."

Moho and Skye arrived soon after. Moho went under Tylo and lifted him up by the arm. Tylo grimaced at the throbbing pain at his ankle, but maintained a straight face nonetheless.

"Any injuries?" Tylo inquired.

"No sir, but you need to rest. The bio-foam is in the pod." Miyu replied rather worriedly.

"I should be fine. I can walk." Tylo tried to stand without Moho's support and nearly fell over.

"OK, we need to split up so we can map the local area." Tylo said as he limped through the forest. A light wind blew through the trees, causing the leaves to rustle. "Moho and Skye, you two find a way around the lake. I and Miyu will go beyond the forest."

"Yes sir, but..." Moho began to speak but was interrupted by Tylo.

"I know. You can go ahead first. I will carry on soon enough."

"...OK. Roger that. Take care out there. Skye, lets go."

Moho and Skye saluted, turned and began walking away briskly back to the escape pod to equip their battle RIG. Tylo and Miyu did the same.

So began the crash survivors' adventures in Gensokyo, a world hidden on the surface of an alien world, full of surprises and wonder. Who knows where they might go from then on. Perhaps one may step into a mansion so large, it warps his sense of direction. Or perhaps another might find himself staring down the gates of the underworld. Maybe, someone might find a peculiar shrine maiden just awaiting his arrival. Only time would tell but that would be a story for another time.

 **To be continued**


	2. Feudal Community

Fuedal Community

The pathway is clear and Tylo, Moho, Miyu and Skye has enbarked on their journey on this strange land known as Gensokyo. Moho and Skye has already headed off around the giant misty lake while Tylo and Miyu has begun to scout through the forests by the crash site. Their journey is going to be a long one. This was their first step.

"Sir, are you sure you can walk?" Miyu asked Tylo concernedly as they put on their armour.

"Yeah, I am fine. The bio-foam dispenser in the boots have already begun treatment."

"Alright Ty...Sir. Just do not over exert yourself."

Tylo and Miyu left the crashed pod fully equipped in their graphene made Buzzer Battle RIG. It was basically a full body suit, designed more for aerobatic combat than traditional warfare. It was made entirely of graphene and the insides were padded with poly-silicate foam compounds. It came with a carbonite tanto-edge blade and a fusion jet pack. The bulky fusion jet packs strapped to their backs offered them some flight capabilities at high speeds. The main downsides to it was that the fusion jet pack was highly un-maneuverable and could only hold enough water-fuel for 10 minutes of low power flight and slightly less than a minute of combat power flight. It had to be used sparingly.

"I am still surprised as to how our tiny lockers could hold all of these equipment." Tylo absent mindedly commented as the two soldiers walked into the dim foliage.

"Well, that's NanoTec engineering for you." Miyu replied.

* * *

The march into the forest did not last long before they encounter some more of Cela's native creatures. Humanoid creatures, slightly smaller than Rumia, but wearing more colorful and some, frilly articles of clothing with wings protruding from their back. They crossed Tylo and Miyu's path so quickly that the two soldiers barely had enough time to dodge the resulting balls of light shot at them. Before they could return fire, the "fairies" had already flown away.

Another encounter they had were with strange white fluffy ball-like furry creatures. They attacked them so viciously that Tylo was sure he would have been mauled to death by them if it were not for his armor. A quick swipe of his sword made them burst into white clouds of fluff, sometimes revealing blue or red crystal flakes. He kept them for future reference.

It was not for another seven attacks when Tylo and Miyu decided to turn on their infra-red cameras to detect the creatures hiding within the undergrowth. This proved to be useful, until the "fairies" learnt to lower their body temperature enough to blend into the surroundings. It was as though they had a "second life" and knew how to avoid death before it even happened.

* * *

This continued for nearly three hours and thankfully for them, their armor was strong enough to deflect any glancing hits from the commonly shot light balls and able to disperse the heat efficiently from those that struck home. Tylo and Miyu eventually came across a small clearing in the forest. They had traveled nearly 12 kilometers within that time and were well out of range of accessing what was left to the escape pod's RIG functions.

"Miyu, look over there. Is that a village of some sorts?" Tylo said as he poked his head through the clearing.

"I can't quite tell. If it is a Lolite military base, then it is very primitive looking." Miyu replied. "What are your orders sir?"

"On me. You are weapons free."

"Yes sir. On you."

The forest cleared into a hilly grassland where the "village" could be seen at nearly two kilometers. This time, without the obstructive trees and forests, their progress would be much quicker and event-less.

* * *

Drawing closer to the "village", Tylo noted that it was indeed a village and not a military base as they had previously suspected. A small river lay before them and there was a bridge across. At the other end, sat a single person at the foot of a hill by the bank of the river wearing a casual haori.

Tylo blinked. Indeed. He was not a Lolite but an actual human. He was sitting by the river fishing and did not seem to notice the two. Tylo unfolded his helmet and lowered his weapon before calling out to him. Miyu stayed behind as Tylo walked forwards.

"Hey you there. You are a human yes? What are you doing here?"

He looked as stunned as a fish out of water and as pale as one too. It took him a while before he answered back.

"Umm… Hey… Yeah I am human… I err… You are not going to eat me are you?"

The man looked as though he would run at any moment. Tylo was confused. Very. Why would he want to eat the man? He thought to himself. Wasn't it cannibalism? He cleared his throat and spoke.

"No! Of course not. Do I look like the kind of person to do that kind of thing?"

"Well… Actually you do."

"W-What?"

"You see… I have never seen you around. You dress strangely and speak with a strange accent."

Tylo was about to cross the bridge already, with Miyu following closely behind.

"Well, that's because I came from up there." Tylo pointed towards the sky. "From space."

"Space? What is th..."

"Yeah." Tylo interrupted him. "Now tell me… What is this place? And how did you get here?"

"I have been here all my life!" He spoke as though it was blatantly obvious.

"We call it *error *."

Translation error. Tylo cursed silently. "I beg your pardon?"

"*error *"

"Say that again." Tylo quickly turned off the translator.

"Gensokyo. Rika maishi sumawata?"

Tylo turned it back on. "Yeah. I do."

Strange. His speech has some Japanese mixed in with the Loa. Lower pitch than usual but I know it is a Loa dialect. What was strange however was the Japanese.

"How long have you and your ancestors been here? I am getting rather confused."

"Well, I am not very sure about the history of *error *, but you can ask Keine. I am su..."

Before the man could finish his sentence, a massive wave of water from the river swept upwards and straight towards Tylo. The force was great and very powerful. It knocked him off his feet and soon enough, he found himself underwater. His RIG's helmet immediately folded back onto his head and drained the insides from water, leaving Tylo's face wet, uncomfortable and himself staring into the eyes of a ghostly spirit wearing what seemed to be a school uniform.

"This one is new..." The spirit's voice echoed within Tylo's head. "I can't seem to drown you. Who are you?"

Tylo was immediately surfaced after that. By the river bank, sat the same spirit holding a giant ship anchor and a ladle balanced on her lap. The man he was talking to previously was nowhere to be seen and Miyu was behind him on the bank opposite the spirit, looking very shocked.

"Well, well, aren't you an interesting one? I haven't seen you around before. What's your name?"

"Tylo. NNT SF Squad-04. How about you? And what were you trying to do to me?"

"I am Minamitsu Murasa, Ship Phantom. I was trying to drown you!"

"And, why would you do something like that?" Tylo asked again as he gestured for Miyu to have her weapon on standby, while wondering what a 'ship phantom' was.

"Well… I guess you could say for entertainment. And after all, you are an outsider… right?"

"That still doesn't give you reason to drown others right? It kills people you know."

"Actually, it does. Nobody mourns them anyways."

Miyu had her weapon raised as she slowly began to cross the bridge. Minamitsu did not seem to notice.

"Well then, I guess I will choose my targets more carefully next time. Sorry!"

With that, the ship phantom dived into the water and disappeared beneath the surface. Tylo swam to the bank of the river and climbed out slowly. Miyu ran over to assist him.

"Well I guess that was to be expected. Let's go. I'll walk it off." Tylo said. Miyu nodded silently.

* * *

The two climbed the little hill that was before them and at the top, about three meters high, Tylo and Miyu could see the village in greater detail. Tylo lay flat on his stomach and deployed his rifle's extended barrel and scope. The village looked sparsely populated but populated nonetheless. They could see humans and Lolites mixed amongst each other walking about the edge of the village, going about their daily routines. Enhancing the magnification of his HUD, Tylo was able to spot out store vendors, blacksmiths, tailors and whatever kind of people one would find in a feudal Japanese village.

Miyu nudged Tylo's shoulder and pointed. Looking a little closer, there were actually Lolites mixed in with the human population. There was one with rabbit ears, there was another with fox tails. Tylo nearly thought he was seeing things.

"Let's go in for a closer look, and maybe we can find this 'Keine' person he was talking about." Miyu commented. She seemed really eager to go on.

"Alright. Hopefully we don't draw too much attention. And I am going to tweak my translator too. The bloody thing is irritating me."

Miyu could not help but giggle.

* * *

They arrived at the entrance of the village in about ten minutes, or at least, the beginning of the main "highway" of the village. The moment the two soldiers set foot into the village, they immediately felt the eyes of the twenty or so people in the area, turn towards them. Ignoring the stares, Tylo looked around in curiosity.

"Wooden/Paper buildings… Sign posts in Loa… Translate… Kirisame-ya Second Hand Shop."

Isn't that a Japanese name? And "Ya" a Lolite slang? Tylo thought to himself.

"Miyu."

"Huh? Yes sir?"

"Go on without me, I am gonna visit this place for a moment. I'll call you when I am done."

"OK. Noted."

Tylo separated from Miyu and turned into the old but well maintained store. The ambiance was quiet and after surveying the store for a brief moment, his helmet folded away. Sitting at the store counter was an elderly man. He looked well in health and seemed to be deep in thought.

"Excuse me." Tylo began.

"Oh, sorry sir." The old man replied. "I didn't see you there. How may I help you?"

"I'm just browsing."

"Oh, OK. Take your time sir."

Tylo acknowledged him and looked around, this time in greater detail. There was nothing out of the ordinary. Which meant that the shop wasn't selling any weapons of mass destruction or anything along those lines. There was however, a good amount of dusty cards lying around. They had many markings written on them, seeming like spiritual seals. But as far as Tylo was concerned, there was no such things as 'spirits'. At least until his encounter with Minamitsu.

"How much do these… Paper things cost?"

"Oh, those are useless. I intended to give them away, but nobody wanted them."

"What do they do?"

"They were dropped of by the Shrine Maiden of Hakurai rather recently. It apparently had no spiritual potential left in it according to her and she dropped them off here. And I don't sell magical goods so I am giving them away."

"I see… OK, give them all to me. I need them for… research." Tylo paused as he watched the old man gather the cards from the shelf and pass it to him. Tylo continued.

"By the way Mr…?"

"Kirisame."

"Noted. Mr Kirisame, do you happen to know a 'Keine' in this village?"

"Why yes, of course I do. She is a history teacher at the school just three rows down the road. Turn left at the junction there. You can't miss it."

"Thank you."

As Tylo turned to leave, Mr Kirisame called out to him.

"You are an outsider yes?"

"Indeed. Why?"

"Oh, nothing. Never mind. Say hello to Marisa for me will you."

"Yeah, sure. Good day."

Tylo emerged from the dimly lit store back out into the late morning sun. He brushed dust off his hair and folded his helmet back onto his head. Marisa… Tylo thought to himself. Who the hell is that?

* * *

"OK." Miyu replied through the RIG communications. The distance was short enough such that the strong magnetic fields did not disrupt it too much. "I will be over soon. Just caught my eye on a food store here."

"Noted." Tylo replied. "Make it quick will you?"

"Sure. The queue is not very long anyways."

"You have the money for it."

"...Right… I forgot about that. He he… I'm on my way."

Tylo cut the communications link and the instant after that, he could not help but laugh a little.

* * *

Following Mr Kirisame's instructions, Tylo eventually came across a large terakoya like building by the road. The road was wide, so there was significant traffic for a village of that size. There was nothing on its walls to indicate it was a school, but Tylo, having studied ancient Japanese history of the 15th century, was aware of that fact already.

Outside the school stood a young lady wearing a yellow-flower patterned sleeve dress with a green vest and short hakama skirt separated by a frilly, white and red obi. She seemed to be deep in thought, or at least waiting for someone. Tylo ignored her.

Miyu had not arrived yet and Tylo was getting a little impatient. I think I will enter myself. He thought to himself. After typing a message on his RIG and sending it through the link, Tylo took a deep breath before entering the building. All of a sudden and right out of the blue, the lady in the floral dress stopped him. Tylo instinctively folded down his helmet.

"Umm, excuse me..."

"Huh? Do you need something?"

"I know that this a little random but, you are not from this land right?"

Tylo nodded, half confused by the lady's sudden approach.

"Oh, where are my manners? I am terribly sorry. I am Hidea. Hidea no Akyuu."

Tylo examined her. From head to toe. Human. He replied.

"Well, nice to meet you. I am Tylo. As you asked, no, I am not from this place. Why?"

At about this point in time, Miyu had found her way to the school. She instantly saw Tylo down the road, talking to a strange lady in a flower dress. Miyu was instantly behind Tylo.

"So captain… The first thing you do when you arrive in enemy territory is talk to the first pretty girl you see. Aren't you a cheeky bugger."

Akyuu was obviously startled by Miyu's sudden appearance and her face flushed red. Before she could say anything, Miyu questioned her.

"Alright, games over. What do you want with my captain?"

Akyuu was stunned and lost for words. Tylo noticed from the corner of his eyes, Miyu had her right hand gripped onto her rifle's handle, and rifle itself set to full-auto. Things would get really bloody if Tylo did not diffuse the situation soon.

"W-Wait a moment." Tylo nearly squeaked. He paused, cleared his voice and continued.

"Miyu, stand down. She is a human. I don't thing she means any harm, or at least, has not shown any evidence for such intent."

Tylo turned towards Akyuu. "Right? Miss Hidea?"

"Y-Yes! That's right! I-I'm just a historian here you see?"

"I hope so." Miyu said in a huff. "Be warned I still have my finger on the trigger."

"Sorry about that." Tylo apologized. "My friend here is just… really tensed up. We only just got here. You are aware that the Lolites and us humans are at war yes?"

"War? I've never heard of a war."

"Your people, no, those big eyed people shot down one of our cruiser. We are, in fact completely justified in spraying down this village with lead for the losses. Not that we would do it anyways. At least until someone gives us a reason to."

"Oh, umm… Plea..."

"Don't worry." Tylo interrupted Akyuu. "I am not going to shoot you people."

"Oh, alright then… Sorry."

"No need to apologize. We are just passing through anyways."

Akyuu audibly swallowed her saliva and she nodded. She asked another question.

"I don't mean to intrude but, did you fall from the heavens?"

"You mean from space? Yeah."

"So it was you!"

Tylo and Miyu both looked at Akyuu questioningly. She explained.

"Well, the Hakurai Miko came pretty early this morning and she casually told me that she saw a brilliantly bright star fall from the sky last night. I kind of figured you two were related to it somehow."

That Hakurai Shrine Maiden person seems to be everywhere in this village, Tylo thought to himself.

"Is that so? I see. As the historian you are, I assume you want to know more about our past?"

Akyuu's eyes lit up. "Well, that was not what I had in mind but that's great! I would love to hear it!"

What a sudden change in attitude thought Tylo to himself. He shrugged the thought off almost immediately after.

"Well Miss Hieda, it is a long story but, I am a human, as you might have already realized. My homeworld is 'Sirrea', even though we were originally from a planet called 'Earth.'"

"You mean the world beyond the *error *"

"What?" Tylo asked again as he turned off his translator.

"Barasusushide Hakurai Riaab."

"Right. So… The… Ultimate something barrier?" Tylo asked as he turned the translator back on.

"No." Akyuu replied. "The *error *"

"Oh never mind. Where was I? Right..."

* * *

Tylo explained the entire history of NanoTec and Earth to Akyuu, especially about the late EarthGov and ICY Products. She listened with great interest, to the point of her eyes literally sparkling while listening. She prodded with some questions, most of which Miyu answered. By the time Tylo was done narrating, up until the point of The Pillar of Foundation, nearly twenty minutes had passed. Akyuu was not satisfied.

"You mean your people of the outside world fought so many wars? And your… Earth was destroyed in 2100 A.D? No wonder no more people have arrived in Gensokyo recently. And by recently, I mean the past 200 or so years."

Tylo's speech became horse after his long speech. "How old are you even?"

"Hey! It is rude to ask a lady her age!"

"Oh, sorry."

"So, Mr Tylo, that thing on your back, you called it a 'gun' right? What does it do?"

Tylo took a quick glance behind him before replying.

"You don't want to know. But all I can tell you is that it shoots bullets."

Akyuu's eyes lit up even further. "Ooh, you mean *error *?"

Tylo was about to ask Akyuu to repeat herself but Miyu put her hand on his shoulder.

"She said 'danmakyu', or was it 'danmakfu'… I can't pronounce Lolite words. They are too high pitched."

"OK… Miss Akyuu, do you really want to see what I can do with this?"

"Yes I do!" Akyuu exclaimed, nearly hopping on her toes.

"I hope you didn't say that… OK, you see that wooden board here?" Tylo said as he picked up a random wooden plank from the ground.

"Yeah?" Akyuu tilted her head slightly. "Can I see the bullet? *error * is supposed to be brightly lit and colorful like a lantern festival."

So that is what the 'fairies' were shooting at me previously. Tylo thought to himself. This 'danmakyu' thingy.

"No Miss Akyuu, you can't see the bullets. You will give away your position. Like I have explained just now, the way we fight, out of sight and overwhelming firepower."

"So will there be fire magic here?"

"Just watch."

With that, Tylo threw the wooden board high into the air. With one quick move, he pulled the rifle off his back and turned the safety off with a sweeping movement of his other hand. Taking aim, Tylo watched the wooden board turn and dance in the wind as it slowly began to make its decent. He held his breath.

* * *

Bang! The report of the single shot from the rifle ripped through the air throughout the entire village. Human and Lolite inhabitants of the village alike began screaming. Some dived for cover and some just crouched down, covering their heads with their own clothes. Tylo was sure he saw a young Lolite female sit down and cry.

Akyuu's face was paler than the white of paper. Her facial expression said it all. Her shock, confusion, fear and awe of the weapon Tylo had in his hands. The wooden board almost floated down from the sky a full four seconds after the shot. Not in one piece but two.

A stream of school children rushed out from the building in a panic induced frenzy. There was a fairy or two amongst them but that was not the main issue at that time. The school teacher followed them outside, shouting, desperately trying to calm the children down. The instant Akyuu saw the teacher, her face grew even paler. Suddenly, her eyes rolled upwards and she fell backwards. Miyu caught her in time however she was out cold.

The teacher suddenly turned towards the two soldiers standing by the school entrance. Her eyes flicked to the gun Tylo was holding, smoke still flowing from its barrel, and back to him.

"You caused this… Didn't you?" She questioned sternly, almost accusingly.

Tylo remained silent.

"I would like to have a word with you later. Stay right here. And don't you dare hurt that lady." and with an exasperated huff, she turned and ran after the scattered school children.

Tylo looked at the unconscious Akyuu, and then at Miyu. Miyu stared back.

"I think we may have brought unnecessary attention upon ourselves..." Tylo mentioned, almost casually.

"Yeah." Miyu replied. Her eyes flicked downwards to check on the unconscious Akyuu and back to Tylo. "Nice going smart guy."

 **To be continued**


	3. Land of Illusions

Land of Illusions

The two soldiers, Tylo and Miyu, have now set foot in a small village on the surface of Cela. More specifically, in a land the people call Gensokyo. It is an interesting place no doubt. Tylo, now with more information, has a better understanding of this strange world around him.

Time crawled by. Every second was apprehensive. Tylo had no idea who that fierce woman was. She had just told him and Miyu to wait there while she went to deal with the children. Akyuu, the historian, was unconscious and had her head laid on Miyu's lap.

"Should we just leave?" Miyu asked softly. She was obviously impatient.

"I don't think so. In any case, we could get more information on this place." Tylo replied.

"Fine. Am I still weapons free?"

"No. Standby."

Miyu nodded with a taste of displeasure in her body language.

* * *

A moment after, the school teacher returned with all her students in check and trailing behind her, some still slightly frightened. They reentered the school building in a single file while the school teacher stayed outside. She glared at Tylo and Miyu.

"You don't seem to be from the local area. Are you two?" she asked.

Tylo shrugged his shoulders. "I'm losing track on how many times someone has asked me that today. No I am not."

The lady nodded.

"I see. My name is Kamishirasawa. Keine Kamishirasawa. I am the guardian of this village and the ruckus you all caused just now was uncalled for."

"I thought you were a school teacher." Tylo said.

"Yes I am. I happen to be the guardian and history teacher of this village. Talking about history, what have you done to that lady?"

"You mean Miss Hieda? She passed out upon seeing you. Friend of yours?"

"That's right..."

Before Keine could finish her sentence, Akyuu woke up. She looked around for a moment before her eyes rested onto Keine's face. It took a while for her to realize what was happening.

"Huh?" Akyuu squeaked. "Oh! Keine!"

Akyuu stood up immediately. She pointed at Tylo and said, almost shouting.

"He has a weapon from the outside world! Its scary!"

"Relax Miss Hieda. The safety is on. See."

Tylo tilted his rifle and pulled the trigger. Akyuu ducked down to cover her ears but no sound came.

"Huh?"

"See? I told you so." Tylo said before placing his rifle back on his back. Keine stepped forwards.

"Back to the point here… Mister..."

"Name's Tylo. This is my squad mate Miyu."

Miyu nodded in acknowledgment.

"Right. Mr Tylo and Mrs Miyu… Please be more careful in future or I will have to intervene."

Tylo tilted his head slightly. "Intervene?" He questioned. How could such a woman as Keine, short and weak looking, fight back against a fully armed soldier of NanoTec? He wondered.

"Yes. I happen to have the power to eat history you know."

Tylo suppressed the urge to burst out laughing. Miyu turned around and hunched over, obviously giggling.

"You're kidding."

"I am not!"

"That's not possible. Closest I could believe would be a very good perception filter. No more."

"You'll be surprised."

Akyuu interjected her opinion into the conversation.

"Yeah! She can! If you make her mad, she'll tear y..."

"That's enough Akyuu. They can believe what they want."

Tylo, was not listening. At that time, he was inspecting Keine's face and comparing it to two pictures of a typical Lolite and human placed side by side on his RIG. He asked.

"Miss Kamishirasawa… Phew that was hard to pronounce… Another question, you have the facial appearance of a human but with Lolite features ingrained in them. Tell me, are you a hybrid?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"That means, are you half human, half Lolite?"

"Lolite? Oh, you mean *error *?" Keine looked half stunned.

"She said 'Yoki' or 'Yaokai' or something sounding like that." Miyu whispered to Tylo.

Keine turned and looked around to make sure nobody was listening. She asked.

"How many more questions do you have?"

"Plenty."

"Right… Let's see..."

Before Keine could complete her sentence, Akyuu said.

"You all can come over to my house for the time being. It's not too far from here and I can serve you tea… Just… don't shoot anyone, OK?"

Keine nodded.

"Good idea. I will tell the kids to take a break first. You two can rest there for the time being. But you must leave quickly. The people around are… wary around some outsiders."

"Since when?" Tylo asked. "The people whom I have spoken too seemed pretty nice."

"That's because you… What did you even do to make something sound louder than a firecracker?"

"I'll explain later." Tylo replied with a smirk.

* * *

Akyuu turned and led Keine and the two soldiers over to her house. When Akyuu said a 'stones throw away', she meant two blocks down the road and weaving through store vendors and general traffic. Along the way, Tylo casually asked.

"Miyu, you were really quiet just now. Were you watching something?"

"Yes. First, I was on standby as per orders to shoot in case of an attack. Second, I was watching the school children within the school building. They seemed really relaxed, unlike our science academies. Every day was a race, study nearly 24/7, no breaks..."

"Yup. I remember. I never was top of my class, but I did excel in combat studies. Good old days."

Miyu nodded.

"Ty...Sir, just a question."

"Relax with the formalities. I am not issuing any orders now."

"R-Right, Tylo, I want to know, which field did you want to major in at first."

"Out of the three hexagons?"

"Yes. Research, engineering or combat?"

"I would say I wanted to go into research at first. Life was no simpler, that I knew, but I simply did not have the aptitude for it. It was boring, monotonous and you never got to test fire what you made, or what the engineers make at least."

"I see. Very interesting… For me, well I… Oh, we're here."

* * *

Tylo looked up and in front of him was a huge oriental mansion towering up at least 30 meters into the sky. One may go even further and call it a fortress. It had lanterns hanging from each of its peaks and there were massive balconies hanging from the sides of the building. Around the 'mansion' were walls with a single entrance that the two soldiers were facing. It was the dream house of any living person.

Stepping into the courtyard, Akyuu walked up to the front door of the house and unlocked it. She removed her shoes and entered. Keine did the same but bowed ever so slightly before entering the house. Akyuu stared at Tylo and Miyu who were just standing there looking confused.

"Well? What are you waiting for?" Akyuu asked.

"It's a little hard to explain. I will let Miyu do so. She is more experienced in this field."

The combat engineer stepped forwards and began to explain.

"This suit of armor is very different from what you people deem as 'armor'. You see, this Buzzard jump suit is a full suit, meaning that to take off our boots would mean having to take off the entire suit. And this device here, it helps us speak. Without it, we are mute in your language."

"Really?" Akyuu and Keine questioned simultaneously.

Miyu turned off her translator and began speaking.

"Male utentes interpres fueris. Reprehendo cum tech suscipio."

"What?" Keine and Akyuu both leaned forwards.

"I...I-I don't even understand whatever you are saying!" Keine exclaimed.

"I know all the dialects of *error * and many other languages, previously spoken by outsiders but… I've never heard this language before. What is it?"

Miyu turned her translator back on.

"This is Latin. NanoTec's second administrative language. English is our first and Mandarin, our third. Have you heard of these others?"

Keine put her left hand on her chin. "Well, I have heard of English before. Some outsiders used to speak that language but… There are no more outsiders. Even if there were any, there was probably only a handful."

"Is that so..."

Before Miyu could continue, Akyuu exclaimed.

"Well, come on in already! The servants will clean the floor once you guys leave so be my guest. I haven't got all day you know?"

Tylo but his hand behind his head and laughed.

"R-Right. Excuse me."

* * *

Tylo stepped into the house onto the tatami mats. He rested his weight on the side of his feet so as to prevent too much dirt from soiling the floor. In front, there was a rather large kneel table for almost ten people. Akyuu was already there, kneeling on the floor, with her feet under the table cloth that extended down to the ground. Keine followed suit.

Tylo looked at Akyuu, Keine and then Miyu. Miyu stared back. The two of them shrugged and walked over to the table, kneeling as the two young ladies are doing. Akyuu cleared her throat, breaking the silence and started speaking.

"OK, everyone is here. Shall we continue from where we left off?"

"Yeah sure." Tylo replied. Looking around, he asked, "By the way, Miss Hieda, where is everyone else? I mean, servants, parents whatnots."

"Oh, the servants have been instructed to stay out of the way of visitors, no matter who they are. My parents… Well, they're busy. No need to bother."

"Right. So, Miss Kamishirasawa, goodness, how do people even say this on regular occasion?"

Keine puffed out her cheeks slightly. "Just call me Keine to make things simple OK?"

"Fine. Miss Keine, you said earlier that you were half human, half yoki or something?"

"Your pronunciation is terrible. Its pronounced *error *. Yes, I am. I have lived too long. So my memory of my childhood is rather fuzzy so I can't tell you much more."

"As half-whatevernots, however its pronounced, you have special powers I assume? Just like the others I've met. Powers like, shooting balls of light from your hands, and you know, eating history?" Tylo sarcasticly said.

"Yes, I do. The balls of light is called *error * as Akyuu probably explained before I arrived."

Akyuu nodded. "Mm hm. I did explain… a little."

Keine continued speaking.

"OK, regarding *error *, they are mythical creatures with special powers, such as flight, unattainable for mere humans like you and your friend. If you have not already found out, many are dangerous and coupled with the fact that humans are a delicacy for their kind, you aught to be careful. Even for those *error * that do not eat humans, they may still attack and kill you if you offend them or even for boring them."

Tylo and Miyu remained silent. Tylo was taking down notes within his RIG using mental commands. Keine continued.

"As a history teacher, I believe I am able to accurately narrate the past of Gensokyo. How much time do you have?"

Tylo flicked his eyes to the chronometer at the side of his RIG.

"As long as you need. Two of my other squad members are exploring… what do you call that… Gensokyo as we speak."

"Oh dear!" Keine exclaimed, almost expectantly. "Can they defend themselves?"

"Yes they can. One has a grenade launcher and the other an ultra-violet laser rifle. I'm sure they are fine."

"What's a grenade launcher?" Akyuu asked, shortly followed by Keine asking, "What's a laser?"

"Long story. Do you have time?"

"Maybe. The kids are still on break but they may get worried if I don't appear in an hour or two."

"Fine. Look carefully then. Miyu?"

Miyu nodded and cast a holographic projection of the grenade launcher and laser gun. The brief history behind them and their original intended purposes. The grenade launcher was straight forwards but the laser gun was designed specifically to burn through graphene armor.

Keine and Akyuu gazed upon the article with great interest. Keine broke the silence.

"Sometimes, outsiders never cease to amuse me. I've learnt something new. Even though I could not understand half of what I read… Right, where were we?"

"History of Gensokyo."

"OK. Well, I shall start from the very beginning..."

* * *

And from the beginning Keine started from. The very beginning, starting with how the world came about when unnamed Gods created it, how life from the seas battled for their very existence, tainting the sea and the land soon after. About 200 000 years ago, humans came around to continue this fight for survival. A keystone was pulled out to create heaven and how a land called "Rbine" according to raw vocals, by a God of the name "Izanagi-no-mikoto". The story carried on about rabbits of "Inaba", mountains and other fantasy like deities Tylo could never bring himself to believe. In fact, he wasn't even sure if Keine was telling the truth or merely mocking him.

Nearly 45 minutes passed before Keine got to the point of a giant mansion appearing out of nowhere in the middle of Gensokyo beyond a misty lake. Immediately recalling, that mansion described in Keine's story matched the very thing he saw after he was marooned on Cela. Holding out his hand in a gesture for Keine to stop, which she obliged to, Tylo asked.

"Tell me Miss Keine, who lives in that mansion?"

"Why, that was exactly what I was about to talk about. Two devils, one called Remila, the other I am not very sure, lives in the mansion. They drink the blood of humans and are very powerful. It is said that the insides of the mansion is larger than it looks from the outside, seeming as though someone within it is playing with the boundaries of space and time, but alas, that is another *error *'s job."

"Right, define 'powerful'."

"Well, the *error * that they fire is very dense and only the most skilled of flyers can ever hope to dodge them. A glancing hit of the non-lethal versions could tear off an entire half of your body and no blood would flow as the wounds would be cauterized. Not only that, the elder one, Remila, has the power to manipulate fate. Nobody knows what exactly that does but I suspect she uses it to win fights and to catch prey..."

Keine paused.

"Tell me, you were uninterested in the rest of my speech but only spiked interest at this point. Coincidence or is there something to it."

"You knew?! Sorry, but I tend to take far-fetched stories like yours with a pinch of salt but that's not the point now. What is important is that my two squad mates are headed towards that very mansion right now."

"What?!" Keine and Akyuu exclaimed.

Akyuu opened her mouth to speak, but was immediately interrupted by Keine.

"You had better go! Now! Stop them. The only thing that awaits your friends there is death."

"I think..."

Tylo was immediately interrupted.

"No! This is really serious! I can't follow you but with my strength, I might be able to help you on your way, at least by a few kilometers. By then, you should have caught up!"

"OK, OK, if you really insist. But you're right. It does sound a little fishy. While I have no doubt that my men can defend themselves, I guess I should follow them. At least as my responsibilities as their leader."

Keine nodded at the sound of Tylo's words.

"Good. Follow me I can help you there."

"No need. We have flight capabilities too."

Tylo and Miyu got up from their seats and stretched. Akyuu and Keine got up as well and followed them to the entrance.

"Oh boy, my knees are aching." Tylo mumbled to himself as he found a decently large patch of grass, far away from anything flammable.

Keine ran out to the two soldiers. "Can you really fly? I have never seen humans like you do so."

Tylo smirked and replied. "You'll be surprised. My people has mastered that art long ago."

He pointed to the bulky jetpack mounted on his back.

"You might want to clear the area." Tylo said as he folded his helmet back onto his head.

"Like a… Tengu, I shall fly with my wings spread wide and glorious!" He joked, much to Keine's disapproval.

The jetpack on his and Miyu's back began humming and the cooling fin on the sides of it extended and glowed a dull red. Flicking a few switches on his RIG, the jet packs howled like a wolf would under the full moon. From the corner of his eyes, Tylo could see Keine and Akyuu staring in awe.

"Wind speed, check. Temperature and humidity, check. Miyu, status?"

"All blue."

"Good. Orion propulsion, two bursts. On me, bearing 055 degrees, respect North."

"Aye!"

Tylo bent his legs slightly and turned his head.

"Nice to have met you Miss Hidea and Miss Keine. I would say it was an honor but that would be an overstatement."

Keine's eyebrows funneled slightly. With a slight laugh, Tylo said.

"Oh yeah, Miss Hieda… In advance, sorry for the damage."

One jump up and an explosion followed shortly after, the sound of the blast ripping through the air like the gunshot before, this time only ten times as loud. With a sudden jolt upwards and a blast of hot air downwards, Tylo and Miyu were already more then 50 meters in the air. Nuclear fusion, such a wonderful method of power. Tylo thought to himself. Hopefully no bird would harm him with that very same power.

A second explosion followed, propelling the two soldiers even higher and even faster. White air streaks formed over the edges of Tylo's stream line armor as he flipped the jetpack over to air breathing mode. The fun was about to begin. His first actual encounter with one of the residents of Gensokyo. Who knew what would happen. Tylo smiled to himself. That thought in itself was very exciting. Reorienting his direction of travel, he pointed himself in the direction where he came from and increased the throttle, slowly easing himself past the sound barrier.

The air snapped and the sonic boom could be heard from miles away.

 **To be continued**


	4. Scarlet Shadow

**Reviews up to date:**

 **Touhou is Life:**

"Interesting..." _Thanks! I appreciate it_

 **New Universe Returns:**

"Not bad, hopefully Keine can tell Tylo about Sakuya's chronokinesis.

I do hope Reimu and Marisa are also heading towards the Scarlet Devil Mansion. For Reimu, it is for some important businesses. For Marisa...

Well, you get the idea." _You have successfully guessed my storyline! Here's a cookie!_

 **Not Someone (Guest):**

"What a strange story..." _I know. Everything I write is strange anyways. Good observation._

* * *

Scarlet Shadow

The path of Tylo and Miyu has been written. Now attention shall be turned towards the other two, Moho and Skye, who has taken a different path in their journey through Gensokyo. They traveled in the opposite direction of their leader and were now unknowingly on their way to the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Blood will be split though. Conflict was almost unavoidable for the ignorant.

Moho and Skye saluted Tylo before rushing back to the escape pod to gather their equipment. Their Buzzard battle suit was standard issue, and that included the jump jets and the carbon blade. What was different was that Moho was issued a grenade launcher and Skye, an ultra-violet laser gun. Both weapons were as light as the SMGP-98 that Tylo uses. Before long, the two had left the escape pod far behind and were out in the open, away from any foliage.

"OK, we are now beyond short range radio contact and we are cut off from sir and the engineer." Skye mentioned casually.

Moho nodded.

"Remember to exercise trigger discipline." Skye reminded Moho. "I know we have an ammunition fabricator in the escape pod but you only have so many on you. Got that?"

Moho nodded again. Apparently, he was still slightly stunned and traumatized from the sudden landing and encounter with Rumia. He became very quiet after that.

* * *

The misty lake was very large, or at least looked huge. Either due to visual perception, or the lake really did stretch over the horizon. The two soldiers silently agreed that it was the latter, and so they took the long way around and decided to march around the shore. No words were exchanged during the march. Moho simply stared forwards, looking at every single step he took while Skye, on the other hand kept looking around and observing his surroundings.

In the distance, still, stood the large "fortress", looking as impeding as ever, but this time, its outlines and shape became sharper and less blurred out by the mist. The two soldiers had already walked for about three hours and the fortress showed no sign of getting any closer. It had a large central building and a low surrounding wall, of estimated three to four meters tall. There was a large spire or tower standing on the right side of the main structure but Skye was unable to deduce the exact purpose of the structure. Perhaps, he thought to himself, that it was a radar installation. It was impossible though. If that were so, reinforcements would be on their tail by now, or perhaps they were waiting in ambush. Watching and bidding their time. Skye could almost feel their stares creep up his back.

A light breeze blew from the lake. It was frosty air, of about -2 degrees Celsius. Moho then looked towards the direction of the wind before swiping at his RIG. He kept at this for a moment before turning towards Skye and starting speaking.

"Sir?"

"Yeah?"

Moho pointed forwards to a creature squatting approximately 80 meters away by the edge of the lake.

"Take a look. Is that a Lolite?"

Skye squinted and stared at the silhouette.

"Yes, that's a Lolite. Civilian I think. Hold fire. Let's ask her something."

The two soldiers kept walking towards the Lolite. She wore a light pink blouse with a blue jumper dress with a red ribbon on her chest. She had aqua-blue hair and a green ribbon sat atop her head. Strangely, she had wings. Skye blinked and looked again. Yes, indeed they were wings but they were crystal like and looked very sharp.

The girl suddenly turned her head to face the approaching soldiers. Her aqua-blue eyes widened and she stood up immediately. Where she was squatting earlier, lay frogs, frozen within icicles. Skye almost could hear Moho gasp in shock. He didn't though.

"Hey!" The Lolite shouted.

Moho and Skye stopped in their path and looked at her. The girl continued.

"I haven't seen you around here before... Are you a human?"

Skye glanced at Moho before resuming eye contact with the girl. She was short and had a childish look about her. He gestured for Moho to standby. Skye put one foot forward and said.

"Yes I am a human. May I ask who are you?"

"I am Cirno! And I am the strongest one around here! I've never seen you around before. Who are you?"

"Name's Skye. This is my squad mate, Moho. We are just passing by and we would like to ask you some questions."

"Hmm, Skye? Hah! Isn't that a girl's name? How funny!" Cirno started laughing.

"I get that a lot..."

Cirno stopped laughing. She looked at Skye and Moho from head to toe.

"Wait a minute, aren't you two humans? Fantastic! After playing with these frogs, I get to scare away humans too! What a lucky day!"

There are humans on Cela? Skye thought to himself.

"I'm going to cryo-freeze you with some English beef!" Cirno yelled before placing her two tiny palms together.

Skye tilted his head slightly in confusion before suddenly sliding to the left to avoid an icicle shot at him. Moho followed suit and pulled out his grenade launcher. Skye gestured again for Moho to hold his fire.

"Wait! Miss, why are you shooting at us?"

"Because I am the strongest and you can't beat me!"

"That says a lot..." Skye sarcastically said.

Moho fell flat onto his stomach and avoided another icicle launched at him and Skye jumped upwards and towards Cirno, as another icicle grazed his helmet visor, screeching against the carbon-glass. Skye now landed directly in front of Cirno. Moho began to advance as well, up to about where Skye was before being stopped short by another icicle shot at him, which he barely avoided.

"Hmph! I am no longer going to go easy on you! Take this!"

Cirno then raised both of her arms and a bright blue glow surrounded her. She shut her eyes tight as Skye watched with caution.

"Hyah! Spell Card! Ice Sign, Icicle Fall!"

In an instant, a gale blew through the battlefield, the leaves of the nearby trees were torn off their stalks and they froze mid-air. The lake surface began freezing and water droplets began condensing in the atmosphere.

"*Life support, activated! *" Skye's RIG said.

Outside temperature had dropped rapidly to nearly -20 degrees Celsius and the wind chill brought it down even further. The condensing water suddenly froze, forming razor sharp ice spears which orbited Cirno like fighters around a mothership. She grinned and yelled.

"Drop dead!"

In an instant, every single one of the spears fell downwards and began curving at an angle, Skye prepared to evade this torrent of ice but did not execute it. The icicles were sweeping quickly but they all passed harmlessly to the sides of Skye. Moho just managed to get to where Skye was standing and avoided this onslaught as well. Skye raised his eye brown. What is this Lolite thinking? He thought to himself. Before he could speak, Cirno shouted.

"How are you still standing?!"

Skye shrugged his shoulders. He was right in front of the girl and yet she failed to hit him. Skye sighed, and mumbled to himself.

"I don't have time for this..."

"Huh? Did you say something?" Cirno shouted. "Are you mocking me?!"

Skye pulled off a canister that was magneticly attached to his waist. It was painted black at the top and bottom and was white down the center. He held it out in front of Cirno's face and said cheerfully.

"I tell you what… Cherino, or was it Seerno?"

"It's Cirno! You stupid *error *"

"OK Cirno, I concede. You win. As a gift, I will give you this. It will make you even more powerful than before!"

"Ooh! Really?!"

Skye smiled to himself. Was she really that easily distracted from battle? He placed the canister on her small and frigid palm. He closed her fingers around it and after that, he wiped the frost that had built up on his gauntlets.

"Miss Cirno, all you have to do is pull that pin out. There, that one."

Cirno pulled it out. A clang sound was heard and a piece of metal flew out from the priming socket. Moho and Skye stepped back from the ice fairy who stared at the strange contraption in awe.

"Blink!" Skye shouted as he covered his polarized visor with his hands. Moho followed and just as their hands went up, the canister exploded with loud bang and the resultant flash of light burnt red, even through their hands and the visor.

"Ah! My eyes!" Cirno shouted as she waved her arms wildly and threw the now blasted open canister into the air.

"My eyes hurt! My ears are ringing! What did you do?!" Cirno fell to the ground and began thrashing about, firing icicles out in random directions.

Skye walked over to the screaming ice fairy and forcefully put his foot down onto her left arm. Cirno screamed and tried her very best to struggle free but to no avail. Skye pulled out his sidearm, the M14 NNT Pistol and placed the barrel on Cirno's head.

"Huh? What's this thing? Get it off my head!" Cirno screamed, desperately trying to pull the gun away with her free hand.

"Sorry." Skye whispered.

* * *

Pichuun! That sound followed shortly after the gunshot and Cirno's body burst into shards of blue and red crystals. Her ice wings fell to the ground with a twinkle before melting away. Skye stood up and sighed. Was it necessary? He suddenly thought to himself. There was no blood. There was only frost at the tip of the pistol, which was already melting away. The snow that lay amongst the two soldiers feet faded to brown, revealing the earth beneath them.

Moho remained silent. He knelt down and picked up some of the crystals that lay where Cirno last was. He twirled the blue one in his right hand as he asked.

"Sir? Was this outcome necessary? I don't think she actually was a soldier..."

Skye did not say a word. Everything was quiet. No wind blew, nothing stirred. Skye heaved a sigh before he bent down and plucked a bright orange flower to place where the crystals were.

"Let's go." Skye said.

Moho nodded. He gathered as many of those crystals as he could carry in the jumpsuit's compartments before quickly catching up with Skye.

* * *

The wind began to blow again as the two soldiers left the previous battlefield. Skye estimated that he would arrive within a kilometer of the large fortress in another two hours. From the distance he and Moho were currently at, they could easily make out every single detail of the fortress using their inbuilt binoculars in the RIG's heads up display.

"Moho, remember the layout. I have no idea what's in that building and what's its defences. Note the guard standing by the gate… Yes the one in green. We take him out first."

Moho acknowledged Skye's orders. "The guard looks female though..."

"Right. Take her out first."

* * *

The two soldiers continued their walk. Closing onto the building, the two split up and began to do a loose circle around the fortress, carefully avoiding the front entrance. Skye and Moho eventually met up at the right wall of the fortress.

"Doesn't seem to be any perimeter defenses at all. Breach and secure."

Skye pat Moho on the shoulder before creeping up to the front entrance of the building. Looking around the corner, by the cast iron gate stood the gatekeeper. It was a 'she' as Moho corrected earlier and she had a very oriental Chinese look about here. Green beret with a gold star covering her long reddish-orange hair and split dress, resembling that of Chinese deities of the 3rd century. Skye looked closer. Her eyes were closed and she was leaning against the wall of the fortress. There was a golden star on her beret that read '龙'. Skye did not quite know what it meant. His knowledge of Chinese characters were terrible. What the Chinese language was doing on Cela was also beyond him.

"She's asleep? Not very good at her job I take it." Skye mumbled to himself. "Maybe it's because of the rural surroundings. Nobody to even enter the complex to begin with."

Skye continued to lay low. He was not very sure if she was really asleep or it was a ruse to fool the two soldiers because they had already been identified. Moho signaled to Skye.

"I'll watch flank. Take her out."

Skye nodded. He crept out of the shadow and walked slowly towards her. He rested his body weight on the foot on the ground and carefully placed the other flat in front of him. His walk was almost completely silent until he was right behind the gatekeeper. Her breathing was steady and was almost guaranteed to be sleeping. Skye almost could see the bubble coming out from her nose.

In a quick and decisive action, Skye pulled out his carbon blade and drove it down the back of the gatekeeper's neck. Her eyes shot open instantly, as though such an assault was expected. Skye grabbed onto the blade of the sword before he leaped over the gatekeeper just as she reached behind to grab him. Her facial expression changed from a genuinely surprised look to that of shock the moment she saw the unknown assailant. With a quick pivot on his right foot, Skye turned around, changing the arrangement of his hands along the blade before violently twisting the entire apparatus a full right angle with the gatekeeper's neck as the pivot point.

A sickening snap echoed and the gatekeeper fell to the ground in an instant. Her eyes moved quickly from Skye, to the sword and then to her disabled body. She was not dead but Skye did not seem to notice. A normal human would die shortly after. She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Skye swung his sword, shaking the blade clear of blood that adhered to it before dropping it back into the sheathe on his back.

"Target neutralized. Moho, let's go." Skye said before he put his foot onto the gate and climbed over it and into the compound. Moho followed, stepping over the ruined body of the gatekeeper, who was still very much alive.

* * *

Skye and Moho dropped down in the middle of the courtyard of the fortress. The first thing they noticed was the giant clock tower eclipsing everything around in height. Green moss grew along the walls and braces of the tower and the brass bell that stood atop it looked as thought it had seen better days. There was the front garden that stretched a fair distance away of about 40 meters before the front entrance and at least ten majestic fountains tipped with a spear like sculpture were visible from where they were. The main door was a large, wooden double door with black cast iron handles and knobs. Looking as they were, Skye almost could not believe he was in the middle of a Lolite fortress.

"Moho. No incendiary unless I state otherwise. Got it?"

"Aye."

Skye and Moho adopted an incomplete CQC formation. Skye took the left flank and Moho, the right. There were many gaps in visual perception as they advanced onto the front entrance. The front garden had rows upon rows of visually appealing flower arrangements. Some pots of unknown plants littered a corner of the garden and there was a stack of empty pots at the other end. The pots were made of brown ceramic clay, similar to the plastic replicas made by NanoTec 3d printers back on Sirrea. Skye had never seen the genuine thing. Manual molding of brown clay was labor intensive and the final product could never meet NanoTec strength standards.

Skye suddenly felt as though he was being watched again. He felt the same stares creep up and down his spine again. He looked around. First at the glass windows of the fortress and then at the perfect rows of the flowers that lay before them and then at the large and almost eerie looking fountains. He almost expected a Lolite laser turret to pop out of the ground where he least expected one to before it started firing away.

They never popped out. There was no form of automated defenses whatsoever. Did I misjudge the standard of security? Skye thought to himself. He glanced at Moho. He seemed to be unexpectedly calm. That's normal for him but seeing Moho traumatized from the encounters earlier, Skye could not help but feel an uneasy feeling building up inside him, gnawing away at the back of his head.

The slow crawl to the front entrance felt almost like an eternity. Skye and Moho, rested their sides against the two opposite pillars supporting the entrance arch. Skye nodded twice. Moho reached his hand out and tugged at the cast iron knob of the great wooden doors. The door was mechanical and not a disguised electronic blast door that Skye had previously suspected. The internal parts of the door creaked and a minute amount of fine brown powder scattered with each creak. The door was not even locked and Moho, after a bit of fighting with the rather poorly maintained mechanism, finally got the door open.

* * *

Skye peeked around the corner and did a brief survey of the interior. It was a dark main hall that was decorated with elegant banners and full medieval suits of European armor were spaced evenly along the sides of the lush red carpet laid across, literally the entire floor. Moho turned his head backwards. The courtyard did not look any different than before. Skye gestured for Moho to follow closely as he stepped into the dark and gloomy hall. The door was closed and almost immediately, Skye noticed that the ceiling of the hall stretched way higher than how it looked from the outside. He blinked a few times and looked again. There was no mistaking it. The insides of the fortress looked a lot larger than the outsides. In fact, Skye was deciding against calling the building a fortress. In fact, the word mansion or castle described it better. Evidently, the building was not designed for combat but instead, looked more like it was designed to house an extremely extravagant princess with sensitive eyes.

The feeling of being watched did not leave Skye alone, if at all, it became even stronger. His RIG began to light up with warnings, stating that minute movements were detected on the local motion sensors and yet, nothing showed up on the infra-red. The information was chilling.

"Moho, stay on me. I don't like this place already. Night vision on."

Skye and Moho turned left and proceeded down the darkened hallway of the large mansion. There was not a sound and parts of the walls were over grown with lichen. The doors along the left and right all looked the same. Heavy oak doors with cast iron knobs. Most of those doors were locked and those that could open revealed either an empty room or a room filled with beds and shelves. Probably servant quarters? Skye speculated.

Moho in particular seemed to have caught onto something. He felt a certain presence and unease in the air and was trying to no avail to track the source of it. Skye on the other hand, had already given up looking for any secret intelligence archive or Lolite military data. As far as he knew, the mansion said everything except being a military outpost. No weapon caches, no perimeter defenses and no security measures whatsoever. Skye would have added that there was no giant information archives into the list of why the mansion was not a military base. He almost did but did not. At least after he stumbled across one.

"Now..." Skye spoke softly as he held a large double door open. "Now that's a huge library."

"I can't see the end of it. Are we still even in the building? Because it sure as hell doesn't look like it." Moho idly said. "Maybe we can find some military data here and return the intelligence back to Sirrea Ops."

"As it stands we aren't getting back to Sirrea Ops. But hey, no harm in checking it out right?"

Moho shrugged his shoulders. "Can't argue with that. Let's go sir."

* * *

Skye took a step into the vast library and closed the door behind him. It was quiet. As expected of a library but it was more creepy than anything else. Skye and Moho split up before he turned his eyes upon the first of the thousands of large bookshelves that housed probably more than tens of petabytes of information. The first book that Skye saw was unrecognizable. It had a hard red cover with symbols or scribbles written on its cover in gold. Probably an ancient language that Skye did not bother to translate.

Many of the other books, all hard cover, were written in the same language. Moho called Skye over rows of bookshelves.

"Sir, you might want to take a look at this one."

"Where are you?"

"Row… 254 sir!"

"Alright, coming over."

Skye began walking over. The clopping of his boots echoed in the vast chamber. Moho was balancing himself on one of the shelves and held out a book with a gray cover. On it, written in English, read the title 'Wikipedia'.

"What the hell is that?!"

"Good question sir. Wish I knew."

Moho threw the book to Skye, which he caught with his left hand and using the momentum of the threw, flipped the book open. It was blank. Not a word in it at all. Skye flipped further until he reached the center of the book where he found a portion of the paper carved out along the spine of the book. Inside this cut hole, lay an outdated, built in 2098, thumbdrive with a storage capacity of 200 Terabytes. Strange. Skye thought to himself. He dusted away the thumbdrive and not very discretely etched into the metal USB shaped plug, was the InterCon logo.

* * *

 _**_ _Brief History **_

 _InterCon was founded on Earth in 2016-7 by a group of students when they accidentally created a stargate in their backyard which led to a planet rich in minerals, after combining a Chevrolet Impala with a strange radiator they found at a scrapyard. They eventually used this discovery, with assistance from the United States' government to monopolize the world economy in 2030 onwards._

 _** End **_

* * *

"What's this doing here? Skye thought to himself. I thought they had been destroyed in the Spore invasion in 2100..."

Moho dropped from the shelf, while holding two other books in his hand. One deep blue and the other bright red.

"Sir, you might want to see these two as well."

Skye reached to grab one of the books but decided against it the moment he saw the title of the two books.

"Sorry Moho, but I am very skeptical of reading books that is titled 'Tumblr' or 'Reddit' in bright gold letters."

"Ha ha! Right you are sir. Maybe I might find one named 'Pornhub' too."

"You wish."

* * *

Skye turned back and began to download the data from the thumbdrive. The entire 200 Terabytes of storage was completely filled up. It was going to take a while, about five minutes.

"Hey you!" reverberated a voice.

Skye and Moho felt prickles crawl up their spines at the sudden voice. Skye turned around and drew his sidearm at the same time. Moho did the same, this time with his own sidearm instead of the grenade launcher.

Skye found himself facing two women, both apparently floating mid-air, next to each other. One of them wore a black dress with white sleeves with what seemed like bat wings attached to her back and temple, with a hair color similar to that of the gatekeeper flowing down her back. The other wore a light purple pajama-like dress with a purple cap with a bronze crescent moon attached to the front. Bangs of purple hair were tied up with alternating red and blue ribbons of the same size.

Both of them did not look welcoming and even dangerous to extent Skye felt himself shaking in his boots. The kind of aura they seemed to project was worrying. The one in purple floated forwards.

"Stop running amok in my library… You don't seem related to Marisa. So, who are you?"

The other floated forwards as well.

"Yes. And, you will return those books yes?"

Skye looked at the two books Moho held in his hands and then the book he was holding in his own hands. He glanced at the thumbdrive he held in between his left finger before turning his eyes back to the two Lolites in front of him.

"Name's Skye. He's Moho. NanoTec Elite. And before you ask, I know my name sounds like a girl's name."

"I see. You will return the books you have taken and leave at once." The one in purple said. "If you do, I may forgive you for your trespasses."

"Unfortunately not. My mission objectives are stated explicitly." Skye lied. "I am to follow through, unless you are keen on stopping me?"

The one in purple sighed. She turned her head to the other and nodded.

"Stand back Koakuma… Alright then. One thief is enough. I don't need two more."

Books from the shelves suddenly began rattling in the shelves. The bat winged Lolite disappeared and the books suddenly began to levitate and orbit around the purple one.

"I, Patchouli Knowledge, will *error * you for your crimes!"

* * *

Skye immediately tensed up and dashed backwards. Lasers and bolts of light began crashing down onto his position. I wonder what she said. He thought to himself while dodging the onslaught of 'bullets'. The translator failed to translate fully.

Skye signaled to Moho and he acknowledged. Moho turned and split into a separate isle while Skye carried on straight. Skye also gestured with his right hand by snapping his fingers and pointing upwards. Moho nodded and smiled. He flicked his jetpack on switch and the bulky device began whining.

"There's no point running!" Patchouli yelled from behind. "I still can see you!"

Skye ignored her. She seemed to be pursuing him. Moho was somewhere around, amongst the heavy shelves but Skye could not see him. Patchouli lined up a clear shot and fired it straight at Skye. A blue laser beam which cut through the air and would have cut through his head if he had no turned around, ducked and slid backwards on the wooden floor. Patchouli almost could see his eyes from that angle. His eyes lined up with the iron sights of his handgun.

The loud bang sounded a split second after and Patchouli immediately felt a sharp pain flush through her left flank, just below the diaphragm. A warm red liquid immediately began flowing from the broken flesh. It was a slow constant ooze, evident that an artery had not been hit. Patchouli's flight altitude dropped instantly, and the second bullet that followed flew harmlessly over head, grazing a few strands of her hair. Skye quickly did a backwards recovery and flipped back onto his feet before spinning on his toes to check on his pursuer, who was still alive and clutching her wounded side. Skye raised his pistol for another follow up shot, before he was knocked off his feet by an earth spike bursting out from the ground below him. He saw a glint of light forming on Patchouli's raised left hand. He twisted his body in vain as the laser that followed struck him square on the back, throwing him forwards at high speeds and smashing him head first into a bookshelf.

"*Waring. High temperature detected. Emergency cooling activated. *" Skye's suit sounded out.

Skye himself, felt pain stem from his back. He was unfazed, pushing himself free from the debris before any more danmaku projectiles hit him. He slid across the floor before side stepping into another aisle of bookshelves.

"Moho!" Skye called through his short range radio.

"Reading you. I have the devil in my sights. Permiss..."

"Weapons free. Take her down and regroup after."

"Aye."

* * *

Patchouli swooped in from behind suddenly, bearing a water/earth sword which was swung at Skye's neck. Sensing this immediate threat he unexpectedly did a high backflip above the magician, completely against her expectations. Patchouli's mouth was wide open in shock. She lifted her left and bloody right hand on instinct and took another shot in the left arm. She gasped, overwhelmed with a pain she had never experienced before in the past many years of her life. She was thrown back by the hit and fell to the ground with a hollow thud.

Patchouli lay on the hard wooden floor, blankly staring at the ceiling. Her entire body felt numb. The majority of her magical circles faded away and the only one she had the energy to maintain was her newly deployed shields. Skye walked up to her limp body and sighed.

"Things might have ended better if you did not intervene with our mission."

Patchouli coughed. The taste of mucus and blood was immediately detected. Skye continued.

"According to Protocol 02-A, we are permitted to fire upon and eliminate any aggressors who threaten to jeopardize our objectives. I'll give you a minute to pray to your creator, whomever he may be."

Patchouli did not lift her head at all. She closed her eyes and let her mind wander.

"Moho?" she could hear in the background.

"Latin mea fracta est. Auxilium non oportet ponere!" he continued in his strange language, without the assistance of his translator.

Patchouli opened her tear filled eyes slightly only to find the gun barrel pointed at her forehead, in between her eyes. She resigned herself to her fate, until Skye was suddenly lifted off the ground magically by a green hue of motion blur. Skye was thrown horizontally at nearly a hundred meters per second and spinning. He crashed through a bookshelf before embedding himself in the wall behind it.

* * *

Skye's head was spinning and his chin and neck ached terribly. In fact, he had suffered a severe bruise to the neck and his lower jaw was fractured badly, bone fragments poked at his flesh from underneath. What on earth… He thought to himself. Such a force was completely unheard of in hand held weaponry and the fact that a blunt force as such managed to injure him was beyond his imagination. His vision was severely blurred and all he could see in front of him was a mixture of brown, red and green hues.

"That's for just now! Though I'm surprised you got past me then!" A voice sounded out from the green hue.

Skye smiled slightly not from confidence but from the whelming pain. He spat out a fragment from his incisors and the bone bounced off the internal glass visor with a dull clink before landing at his neck insulating areas.

The suit's biofoam dispensers kicked in and Skye felt a rough stinging sensation from his injured areas.

"What's wrong? Not so tough now are you?" The voice said again.

Skye remained silent. His vision cleared up slowly and he pushed himself from the crater. The dent folded the shape of his armor nicely, almost like a grave. Skye landed kneeling and his right hand, still clinging onto his sidearm supporting his body weight. He stood up quickly, nearly tripping over his heels a few times and looked at his new opponent.

It was the gatekeeper from before. He was shocked. I had driven a sword through her neck and snapped the spinal cord… He thought to himself. And yet… Looking closer, the gatekeeper now had one of the green drapes of her dress torn and silky fabrics of the same diameter of the torn section were tied like a tourniquet around her neck. A red patch was visible in the middle of the knot, evidently showing that this was indeed the gatekeeper in question.

"What? B-But..." Skye mumbled to himself.

"You really underestimated the strength of us *error *. Did you really think you could kill us with such feeble maneuvers? I'm afraid you have to try harder than that!"

Skye remained silent. Behind the gatekeeper, now standing in a kung-fu like battle stance, was an elegant… legit human dressed in a European maid dress or Japanese media maid stereotypical getup. That young lady had navy blue eyes and she twirled three silver knives, each with a beautifully crafted red hilt, in her right hand.

"You're unexpectedly strong for a foreigner, being able to 'take down' '美玲' in your first encounter. Not only that, being able to deflect my knives too… You're a strange one."

Skye then glanced at the floor around him and at his shoulder guards. Silver knives with blue hilts lay scattered around him and an equally great number of silver scratches covered his armor. He translated the Chinese iteration that appeared in his translator as 'Meiling'. He assumed it was the name of the gatekeeper.

"Radio silence Moho… You know where I am." Skye said quickly through the radio in Latin. He could almost bet that the radio channel, no matter how secure, was being watched.

Skye turned towards the new opponents that had appeared. Patchouli had disappeared somehow from where she was lying but that was not the issue.

"Heh. Nice. You actually caught me off guard."

The gatekeeper spoke menacingly.

"Who are you and what do you want with us?!"

"Name's Skye. I'd say nice to meet you but we have a fight to carry on with. Yes?"

"How are you even talking after an attack like that?" The gatekeeper questioned further. "Your head should have came clean off!"

"I would ask you the same thing. How are you even here after your spinal cord had been damaged, let alone be fit enough to fight?"

"That's none of your business!"

"Likewise." Skye pulled out the half-empty magazine from his handgun and reloaded it with a fresh one from his reserves.

"Shall we?" Skye gestured.

* * *

The gatekeeper and the maid looked at each other. Both nodded and quite discretely, the maid's eyes turned a shade of deep crimson. A hail of knives suddenly appeared around him, barely giving him enough time to react. His injuries still took a toll on his body, inhibiting his general effectiveness in combat. The hail of knives was dodged partly, some still striking and deflecting off the graphene plates of armor.

Skye traced the surroundings and reevaluated his strategy. The gatekeeper, or Meiling, was the only one capable of causing significant damage to him and if he could avoid her, he should be fine. Meiling rushed at him with a high running kick and Skye rolled under the attack, firing as he did. He heard the bullets hitting their mark, with the sound of splitting flesh but Meiling was almost completely unaffected, taking the attacks as though they were ant bites.

Skye thought of using his UV-Laser but decided against it. It was a specialty weapon that barely made it out of metatype testing phases. In fact, it was not very powerful, acting more like a glorified area denial system. While it could blind people, it could not melt or burn through more than a meter of concrete. The entire thought process took less than a split second.

The maid disappeared almost entirely from sight after the battle began, although the knives kept coming down onto him like rain during a tropical storm. It was impossible to dodge all of them unless one was an expert bullet-hell gamer. Taking glancing hits on his armor, Skye chose to focus all his efforts in taking down the gatekeeper first. She was fast, but not faster than the bullet. One magazine was soon empty and Meiling took all the shots like a tank. Her attire was riddled with holes and blood stains. She was still standing and even smiling slightly.

Skye clicked his tongue. He had hoped the infiltration would have been easier but, apparently his conclusion of 'lack of defenses' jinxed him. He pulled out a fragmentation grenade from his storage compartment and pulled the pin out. He skidded across the ground and began to run at full speed towards Meiling. She got ready a battle stance and before he could lay down the explosives, a knife suddenly came out of nowhere and struck the grenade square in the center, sending it flying up towards the ceiling where it exploded and shattered a candle chandelier. Glass fragments came raining down upon Skye and Meiling. He was shocked. Shocked so badly, that the sudden tipping of odds distracted him, giving Meiling the opportunity to punch Skye in the forehead, sending him flying across the library.

"Ugh… What the hell was that?" Skye moaned as he got up from the second crater at the other end of the library. Moho was nowhere to be seen still. Fighting against his throbbing head and wavering and reddening vision, Skye stood up again, only to be knocked away again by another punch to the head.

That one was not as strong or painful as Skye expected it. He angled himself in flight and fired his jetpack, almost floating from the walls of the library, leaving any wooden objects there scorched and smoldering.

He turned around and pointed his gun forwards, only to see both Meiling and the maid headed right for him in a coordinated double attack. There was no time for maneuvers. The jetpack's thrust values were too low. Skye raised both his hands and retracted his feet in a defensive measure. Suddenly two grenades flew upwards, in between the attackers and Skye. They had an orange stripe marked horizontally under it's detonation pin. Skye immediately knew what they were and boosted himself as hard as he could in the opposite direction.

* * *

The two grenades exploded into huge balls of burning synthetic napalm and Skye had only just managed to get out of the kill zone. He began falling backwards towards the entrance of the library. He brought his feet backwards and slowed his descent, landing rather roughly on the red carpet there and unexpectedly, nearly crashing into a blond haired young lady who had just entered from the great double doors. Black pointy hat and black clothing with a faint pink apron draped over the dress and a broomstick. She was just as surprised as Skye was.

"What the ze... Who…?" She began

The lady, however was not able to finish her sentence. The maid appeared out of nowhere and sliced at Skye's neck. He dodged this by doing a backwards recovery before deploying an Orion type acceleration from his jetpack, burning the red carpet he was standing on and potentially giving anyone in the blast radius of four meters third degree burns. He saw Moho rising out from the mess of bookshelves below and as their eyes met, they nodded, silently acknowledging the next action to be undertaken.

Moho fired a single high explosive anti-armor grenades upwards at where the broken chandelier used to hang from. The two grenades exploded, causing a human sized cavity to be blasted straight through the roof out into the outsides of the mansion. Moho rose high upwards while Skye began to bleed off his vertical speed to land softly on the roof.

* * *

The sky was now dyed reddish-orange by the setting sun. If he were not fighting at that moment, Skye would have thought it was beautiful. He backflipped once before settling himself down onto the ground. A sudden surge of energy swept him off the floor. The gatekeeper was already there, much to the dismay and surprise of Skye. She followed with a low kick to Skye's head. The pain left his neck as fast as it arrived. Skye was thrown across the roof, skipping twice over the ground before landing face down onto the stone.

"Ah…!" A short gasp escaped from his lips as Meiling landed on top of him.

A cold sensation was left in his neck. As Skye lifted his right hand to inspect the damage, he found that he could no longer move it. It was still attached to his body though. He lifted his other arm painfully and shaking. He pressed it on his neck and instead of feeling the usual roughness of the carbon fiber, he felt the hard knob of the knife that was embedded in it.

I've been hit… He thought to himself as though it was not already obvious enough. He raised his eyelids slightly. His head was on its side and at the corner of his eyes, he could see Moho lying in a crater in the stone, face up. Apparently he did not land properly or was shot down. It was likely the latter. Skye felt a sharp pain to his left side as he was flipped face up. Above him, he saw Meiling and the maid standing before him. His numb right hand still grasped his sidearm. He reached for it with his left. His hand barely made it off the ground before it was nailed back down with another knife. He instantly lost all sensation in his left wrist.

Skye coughed and blood came forth and splattered his lower HUD. His entire body felt numb, he could not move. The biofoam was acting, patching up all his existing injuries but the overwhelming damage done to his body was too much for it to handle. The maid's eyes changed from red back to blue. Her facial expression blank and empty, she spoke coldly.

"This is what happens when you try to disturb the mistress."

Meiling nodded at the back.

"If you plead now, I might just let you live."

Skye coughed up more blood. His lungs heaved and they ached with every breath he took.

"Heh. I underestimated you."

The bell tower chimed once, like church bells during a funeral, long and ominous. Skye fought to keep his eyes open. Should they close, he may never get to open them again.

"Go ahead. Kill me. I am not afraid." Skye said before coughing again.

The maid smiled. "As you wish."

With an unearthly strength, she pushed Skye's head backwards, revealing the carbon fiber netting that covered his trachea.

"This will hurt as a lesson for you to take to the afterlife. Begone!"

The maid lifted her right hand into the air, aiming at the unarmored joint of Skye's armor. He kept his eyes open. He was not going to back down in fear. He would stare his killer down. Time seemed to slow down as the knife dropped. Skye anticipated the penetration of the steel into his flesh, but it never came.

* * *

The maid's eyes were wide with shock. Strange… Skye thought to himself. If anyone was to look like that it would be me. Then Skye saw the gaping hole in the maid's right palm. The knife was knocked away by the impact.

Skye was still dazed when another bang resounded, followed by the sickening crack of bone as he saw bone fragments splinter from the maid's right shoulder, a red gaping hole replacing the white sleeve that hung there. She yelled, gripping the wound with her left hand. She stumbled backwards only to have her left kneecap shot out as well before she collapsed to a kneeling position. Meiling on the other hand, stood dumbfounded.

Moho sprung from his resting spot and began a mad dash towards Skye. Skye shut his eyes this time, in fear of the sudden turn of events. He was holding his grenade launcher, not by the grip but by the barrel. The maid turned her head toward the new threat, a little to late.

Moho did not yell. He put his left foot forwards, leaning all his body weight in the same direction as he swung the gun towards her. The stock of the grenade launcher hit her in the jaw and a snap resounded as the maid was thrown into the air before landing a good two meters away from where Skye lay.

Moho then turned towards Meiling. She fumbled, stumbling backwards. Moho pulled out his carbon blade from the sheath from his back and drove the entire apparatus through the gatekeeper's stomach. Moho gripped her shoulders and sharply hammed his skull into hers. Meiling's eyes glazed over before falling over backwards with a thud.

* * *

All that happened over the course of four seconds. Skye, still lying on the ground saw Moho pull his sword out of the unconscious gatekeeper before turning towards the large clock tower and giving a thumbs up in that direction.

Instinctively, Skye painfully tilted his head towards the bell tower. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary until he noticed a glint of light from the corner of the left stone pillar. Skye chuckled. Of course… He thought to himself. As though answering him, a voice came through the short range radio.

"Sorry I'm late Skye. Heroes are never on time." Tylo said with a mild sarcastic tone.

"Yeah… You're really never on time." Skye croaked.

Tylo jumped from the bell tower over to the stone roof. Miyu, who was behind Tylo all that while followed onto the roof. She rushed over to Skye and materialized a few biofoam swabs from her portable Medi-vac.

"This is going to hurt. Brace yourself." Miyu said as she proceeded to pull the knives out of Skye's neck and left wrist sharply. They stung as expected. Miyu then covered the wound with the swabs.

"You better be thankful for the life support systems in your armor." Miyu lectured.

"You'd be dead without them you know?"

Skye would have nodded if he had any strength left to do so.

"Guys?" Tylo said.

"In the meantime, don't move. You need to let the biofoam take effect and the suit to rearrange your bones..."

"Guys?" Tylo said again, this time slightly agitated from being ignored.

"You should have been more careful you know? What if..."

"Guys!?" Miyu stopped talking. Moho and her turned towards Tylo.

"We've got company. Heads up."

* * *

Rising above them and obscuring the remaining light from the sun, was a little girl, the word 'little' to be taken lightly. In fact this 'girl' had a pair of massive bat like wings and had an air of suspense and aristocracy. The two oversized canines poking out from her upper jaw also did not ease the tension in the atmosphere. Tylo stepped back slightly.

"You!" she growled.

"What have you done to them!?"

Tylo glanced at the two unconscious individuals that lay almost literally at his feet. He answered with slight uncertainty in his voice.

"My men defended themselves under the assault of..."

"My beloved servants! Meiling and Sakuya!"

"Yes, they defended themselves from Sakuya and Meiling's attacks. I..."

"There's no excuse for that!" Tears were already welling up in the girl's eyes. Tylo glanced towards Miyu and said in the radio in Latin.

"This must be the vampire Miss Keine was talking about. I believe her name is Remila. Caution is adviced."

"I-I'm going to make you pay!" She shouted. "I will make you f… I will make you pay!" She shouted again, holding her tongue before a terrible vulgarity slipped out.

A red glowing spear suddenly appeared in her hand and she posed to throw it. Tylo instinctively dove to the right, avoiding it completely. He got up said.

"Come on! I was not here when this happened OK? Can we come to a compromise?"

"No! I can never forgive this… audacity!"

* * *

Remila formed another spear in her hand. Aww crap… Tylo thought to himself. I guess Keine was right after all! Tylo prepared another evasive maneuver but the thrown spear was deflected off to the side and it exploded in a shower of crimson danmaku. A lady in a black dress stood in front of Tylo with a circle of light before her. Skye noticed her immediately. It was the same person he saw in the library.

"Woah! Calm down Lady Remila! You can't kill outsiders like that!"

"You stay out of this Marisa! Be glad I have forgiven your borrowing streaks in the library. Don't make me..."

"No, no, no! They wouldn't have known about this. Just let them go ze!"

"Step into my shoes and take a look behind you. Tell me if you would say the same thing!"

The lady in the black dress, Marisa, turned around and almost fainted upon seeing the scene before her eyes.

"Oh my God! What the hell did you lot do?"

Tylo remained silent. Two more people were approaching according to his half jammed radar. Skye on the other hand, tried to stand up much to Miyu's disapproval. He did anyways and stumbled, nearly falling down again if it were not for Miyu supporting him.

"Well..." Skye spoke with a heavy voice. "I'll explain later. It's a long story."

"You're outsiders right? Then..." Marisa's voice trailed off. She turned and looked into the sky. The second person had arrived. Obviously a Shinto shrine maiden from her getup. Red ribbon on her head and matching tubes on her sidelocks. She also carried a stick with weirdly cut paper strands originating from the tip.

"OK Remila. What are you scheming… now… Oh no." her voice changed from a serious tone to that of deep worry and concern.

The shrine maiden landed next to Sakuya and Meiling.

"How… did this happen?!" She turned towards the four soldiers standing before her.

Tylo answered instinctively.

"It was an act of self-defense! If my men did not..."

"This went way too far." the shrine maiden interrupted them. "I think I might be sick..."

Marisa, rushed over to the bodies and looked at their injuries. She gagged and turned around. Her face slightly green as she said.

"The maid… Sakuya doesn't have very long…"

Remila, who was seething and silent in the background, suddenly dropped onto the surface of the stone roof and began crying. Tears streamed down both of her eyes as she silently weeped.

"What should I do? What should I do? If Sakuya… then..."

Marisa then turned towards Tylo and said.

"What is wrong with you? Wh… Exactly what did you do?"

Tylo remained silent. The last person is approaching. He thought to himself. There was a dim flame trail dangling and floating towards them. Tylo squinted his eyes and tried to identify what it was.

"Huh… What is that doing here… Crap!"

Tylo suddenly dug his right foot into the ground and sprinted as fast as he could towards the shrine maiden. He reached his hands out and pushed her down to the ground violently.

"Hey! Wai..." the shrine maiden screamed.

Tylo then proceeded to lie flat on the ground as well, barely avoiding the last person that would have flown straight into the shrine maiden, with catastrophic results.

Tylo did a roll forward and looked up. That was not a person. Instead, it was a purple colored humanoid droid with a long range jump jet. It had no visor and it was armed with an alien looking laser rifle.

* * *

"Spores?!" Tylo gasped. "I thought they had no FTL?! They should be centuries away!"

The shrine maiden pushed herself up from the ground. "What the hell was that for?!"

Tylo remained silent. He pointed at the droid, leaving the shrine maiden, Marisa, and everyone else who was present and conscious in shock.

Skye pulled out his UV-Laser from his back. Seizing control, he said weakly.

"Everyone, stay back!"

He limped forwards, together with his other squad mates, forming an inverted 'V' shaped formation. He lifted his rifle, and without hesitation fired upon the droid.

The laser impacted the armor of the droid, heating its surface to a bright yellow. The droid began emitting black smoke before overheating and crashing to the roof before it could even fire. Skye lowered his rifle and collapsed to the ground with a sigh.

* * *

Tylo turned around and saw all the eyes of apprehension were upon him. Even Remila, who was described to him as a bloodthirsty vampire by Keine seemed… timid and scared even. He looked at the shrine maiden and asked.

"Miss. Do you know what is going on?"

"Huh?" She was taken aback. "That's what I should be asking you!"

"You don't huh? That makes things very troublesome. I know we just met but you are going to have to trust me, OK? This concerns us both."

Marisa walked towards Tylo and started putting forwards her own questions.

"Trust you? We barely even met da-ze ~!"

"I know, but this is important… Miss, my name is Tylo, may I know yours?"

The shrine maiden pointed to herself. Tylo nodded.

"Hakurei. Hakurei Reimu… Who… What was that?"

"A Spore boarding droid. Ever heard of it?"

"No..."

"Thought so. Is there any medical facilities nearby? It seems like we would need these two alive."

"Huh? Y-Yes, there is Eientei, far to the west in the Bamboo Forest of the Lost."

"Good. Let's get them there now."

Tylo turned and knelt to the half-dazed Remila and spoke softly.

"Ma'am, my sincerest apologies for the damages. I owe you and your servants will be brought back to you as though nothing had ever happened, OK?"

Remila nodded instinctively with tears running down her face.

Tylo nodded and stood up. He turned towards Reimu.

"You can fly yes?"

"Uh huh..."

"Good." Tylo said as he walked over to Sakuya's mutilated body and picked her up. A small pool of red had accumulated where she lay and her body, even through his gauntlets, felt unnervingly cold.

"Guide me to this Eientei you speak of. We don't have very much time."

Tylo then turned to his men.

"Miyu, you're following me right?"

She nodded.

"Good. Skye, Moho, retreat back to the landing zone on your convinence. Don't over exert yourself."

Skye saluted weakly and nearly fell over again as Moho supported him.

He then turned to Reimu, who had effortlessly picked up Meiling from the ground.

"I know things are happening very quickly miko… I mean Miss Hakurei. But bear with me. I will explain as I go. Even I have my own queries."

Reimu nodded and posed herself, ready for take off.

Tylo then turned to Marisa, who was still standing there dumbfounded.

"Marisa… right? Please take care of Remila. I don't want her coming from behind on our flight there. Is that possible? You seem to be familiar with her."

"Yeah… I guess. Don't you lay a finger on Reimu, got that?"

"Understood."

"Mm hm! If you do, I'll burn you inside out!"

Tylo nodded. He gestured to Miyu to follow.

"OK, on me Miyu. Keep up alright?"

Miyu acknowledged this.

With a jump, Reimu blasted off into the air, without a trace of exhaust whatnots. Reactionless propulsion in NanoTec terms. Tylo gritted his teeth and followed closely with Miyu coming shortly after. After a short burst of hot air from the jetpacks, they were in the air and away, flying into the sunset.

Skye looked as they soon disappeared from sight. He turned towards Marisa, before stumbling a little. Marisa began to ask questions.

"So… Care to explain a little?"

"Yeah." He replied. "You and your friend are humans right? That brings more questions for me. Your land, according to my leader's data files, is called Gensokyo… Right?"

Marisa nodded.

"Tell you what Miss Marisa. If you'd hang around, I would be able to explain a little better to ease your confusions. Perhaps, I could also, somehow make up for Lady Remila. How's that sound to you."

Marisa shrugged. "Fine I guess. You don't seem like that kind of person to completely mess up someone with malicious intents ze..."

"Maybe not. You don't know me that well… Oh yeah. One last thing..."

Marisa looked at Skye with relative interest.

"According to my leader's text logs… Your dad says hi."

 **To be Continued.**


	5. Eientei and the Forest of Lost

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* * *

Eientei

The history of human flight is very short, with them achieving powered, controlled flight only in 1903. As far as flight was concerned in Gensokyo, they have flown and mastered that art for as long as the inhabitants could remember. So, for Reimu, flying while carrying a half-dead person was no issue. Tylo, on the other hand had to deal with the alternating wind currents at low altitude, sub-sonic flight. His jetpack was almost out of fuel and he could already hear the whining of the fusion plasma within the device getting weaker and weaker.

Tylo looked around him, below the swooping clouds was a large forest with flora that looked like Earthly bamboo, stretching out behind and ahead of them, dark and almost consistent throughout. The sun was setting and light was dimming fast. Miyu flew behind him, although she was bobbing up and down as her jetpack sputtered and flipped into fuel saving mode. Reimu on the other hand, flew on unassisted and unfazed by the wind. Tylo shouted over the roaring wind currents.

"Hey! Reimu! Are we there yet? The maid here has lost too much blood, and she can't survive for any more that ten minutes!"

"Yeah! Almost there!" She yelled back. "Just be patient!"

Suddenly, Reimu dropped her altitude sharply and plunged straight down into the bamboo forest. Tylo immediately cut his jetpack to idle and dropped himself down into a nosedive, following after Reimu. If one had the ability to fly… Tylo thought to himself, they shouldn't be wearing skirts while doing so!

The bamboo stalks rose up into Tylo's face as he, while holding onto the unconscious Sakuya, angled and adjusted the deployed ailerons on his jetpack to avoid being impaled by the stalks. Reimu effortlessly dodged the approaching dangers and did a frontflip, now falling feet first. Tylo magnified what lay before him using the RIG functions and noted a large wooden structure, more specifically an Edo Period kenchiku occupying a massive land area with an equally yard courtyard to compliment it. Reimu was heading for the former and showed no sign of slowing down.

Well fantastic. Tylo thought to himself. I've got a reckless shrine maiden to deal with now. He curled up into a ball, hugging the maid tightly. Over the sound of the wind, he clearly made out the miko's yell.

"Hyahh!" Reimu yelled as she plunged feet first into the wooden roof of the building above the genkan.

The sound of wood splintering and paper tearing could be heard as Tylo and Miyu slowed themselves down for a semi-soft landing. Aiming themselves by the entrance of the building, they turned feet first and landed in a cloud of dust at approximately ten meters a second. The instant Tylo got up from his half-crouch recovery position and the dust cleared, he already noted the 'abnormalities' of the residents here.

* * *

Rabbit people and lots of them. Each one wore a pink frilly nightgowns and were of various heights with equally varying degrees of hair color, each with floppy and fluffy rabbit ears on top of them. Each one held a large wooden mallet and were all pounding a white, dough like substance in wooden buckets. When he landed, countless pairs of eyes on him already. The sound of pounding that Tylo heard briefly after landing ceased and the only sound that was left was the crumpling of the remaining wooden debris from Reimu's crash landing and the sound of crickets buzzing in the background. Miyu looked around for a moment before gesturing to Tylo to move. There were, after all, more important things to settle.

Tylo nodded and walked towards the kenchiku. After ensuring that Sakuya did not break any bones, he knocked and entered the building.

"Excuse me."

"Pardon us." Miyu added.

The door was made of paper and slid quietly to the side, revealing a completely devastated entry way and Reimu standing on top of another rabbit person, while still carrying Meiling. This one was different as she wore a long sleeved black business looking suit with a white shirt under it and she had long rumpled rabbit ears unlike the others whom had short, fluffy lopped ears. The poor rabbit was crushed under the full weight of the shrine maiden and her ears were twitching.

"Ah, there you are. What are you waiting for?" Reimu said impatiently. "Come on. Eirin is waiting in the next room."

Reimu proceeded to open the door that led into the next room. The rabbit person still looked absolutely dazed and completely shocked. However, she seemed virtually unscathed and would probably recover naturally and could pretend that nothing ever happened if it were not for the two distinct, grey footprints on her back. Tylo carefully stepped over her body and followed Reimu into the next room.

It was a large ima, living room like room with chairs and tatami mats. There was a desk in front of Tylo and behind it stood a woman, or Lolite with long, silver white hair that was braided neatly and wore an alternating red-blue outfit with the Ursa Major constellation sewn on her left breast.

"Eirin, we have people you need to see." Reimu said.

The woman took a look at the two soldiers and then at the injured Sakuya. She sighed and replied.

"Reimu, next time use the door please. I hate having to repair the roof every time you come in li..."

"I'm sorry ma'am but..." Tylo interrupted her. "We have two mortally wounded patients here and I understand from the shrine maiden that you are the state doctor. Can you please take care of them."

"Alright..." She began. "Let me see them."

Reimu put Meiling down onto the floor and Tylo, still holding onto Sakuya, presented her to Eirin.

"Oh my goodness!" Eirin gasped. "Reimu! What did you do to them?"

Sakuya and Meiling, although partially healed mid-flight by Tylo's suit biofoam dispensers, were still suffering major hemorrhaging throughout their bodies, internal and external and blood was already pooling on the tatami mats on the floor. Tylo's arms and gauntlets were already stained red in multiple places and the blood dripped from his armor.

"I don't know." said Reimu. "Ask these people." She said as she pointed to Tylo and Miyu.

"It would almost be a miracle if I can save the human now!" said Eirin. "I can save the 'youkai' but, why didn't you bring them here any quicker?"

"We were flying as fast as we could." Tylo said, "And for God's sake, would you do something? Are you the doctor or what?"

"...Right. Bring them into the operating theater immediately! Reisen! Reisen! Where are you?!"

A weak voice was heard from the genkan. Tylo picked up both Sakuya and Meiling with his two arms. The micro hydraulics took care of their body weight and surprisingly, they were not that heavy.

"Show me. Where? We don't have time."

"This way."

Eirin got out from her desk and opened the fusuma that led into the next room. She went forwards another room before turning right. In the room, was a makeshift table with straw and medical equipment made from chromium and iridium alloys lying on clean linen by its side. Tylo laid Sakuya on the table and Meiling on the floor. Taking a swab of biofoam from Miyu, he placed one on Sakuya's forehead and on each of her open wounds.

"That should hold her for at least another fifteen minutes." Tylo said. "Call me if there are any complications. I am skilled in human anatomy."

Eirin put on thick, disposable linen gloves and wore a face mask that lay on the opposite side of the table. She nodded and ushered for Tylo and Miyu to leave. The two soldiers did as instructed and left immediately. Reimu was standing where Tylo left her.

* * *

"Well Miss Hakurei, that's settled. I'd brief you about what is going on now but first things first, what about the roof and the… rabbit Lolite by the front door?"

"Oh the roof? They'll repair it easily. No biggie. And the rabbit 'youkai', well… She's use to it."

Translator still cannot translate some Loa words. Tylo thought to himself. Thank goodness he added the function for the device to simply ignore these words and have them pass through, raw, without giving him an error. He asked.

"Youki?"

"It's pronounced 'youkai'."

"Right. Why do you refer to these people as that? I mean… The Lolites call themselves Lolites so I see no reason to give them another name… Right?"

"Huh? Wait… Come to think of it, there was a rumor I've heard a while back and to call someone a 'Lolite' is a grave insult."

"Hey!" The voice shouted from the genkan and after a brief moment, the rabbit girl burst into the room ranting and raving.

"You! Reimu, did you just call me a Lolite? And after landing on me too without apologizing! Do you wanna fight? Huh?"

"Woah, calm down. I was only asking why people don't call you guys Lolites."

"So it was YOU who called me a Lolite!" The rabbit girl's lifted up her right hand and pointed her glowing index finger at Tylo.

Tylo pulled out his handgun in response and in a blink of an eye, fired a shot into the tatami mat by her right foot. Reimu jumped back after the loud report and the rabbit girl almost squeaked.

"Eek! Please don't kill me!" she screamed and literally curled up into a ball of complete emotional distress.

"Oops." Tylo said. "Did I do something wrong?"

Reimu, still slightly pale from the shock yelled at Tylo. "Of course you did you moron! W-Who in their right mind begins shooting even before the battle is declared?!"

Miyu said. "Well sir, from what I've researched of the Lo… Youki culture is that they are very fanatically bound to honor in a battle. They want to fight fair and square."

"Well isn't that great? Honor bound warriors charging to their deaths! A fantastic fighting style!" Tylo said sarcastically.

"It's not just that!" Reimu closed her left eye and began lecturing. "To fight, you must have honor. If you win through unfair means, what's the victory to you? And, if you give yourself unfair advantages in a fight, how does one accurately judge who is more powerful? And it's pronounced 'youkai'!"

"Well, you may have a death wish, but I don't. You put your life on the line and you're still worried about negligible things such as honor? I doubt you'll be saying the same thing when the Sirrea Ops orbit Cela or Gensokyo now would you?"

"What?" Reimu was taken aback as though someone said something extensively insensitive or stupid. "Nobody dies in a battle!"

Tylo raised his right eyebrow and under his helmet, his mouth hung open. Before he could begin questioning Reimu's logic, she interrupted him.

"Oh yes, I forgot. You're a foreigner. You don't know about the spell card rules. Do you?"

"Huh?" Tylo and Miyu questioned simultaneously.

"Heh! Thought so." Reimu said, while pulling a smug face.

"Well let me explain..."

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Eirin was had not finished the treatment for Sakuya or Meiling and Reimu had not finished talking or lecturing depending on how one would put it. The rabbit girl still lay by Tylo's feet shivering and sobbing. Tylo nudged her with his boots but she did not budge.

"Hey! Are you even listening?" Reimu said.

"Yeah. We are."

"OK? Summarize what I've just said."

"You made this 'Spell Card Rule' more than 14 years ago before the Scarlet Mist incident and it was created to give all beings, youki or otherwise a chance to defeat you and or more powerful opponents in a 'danmaku' battle. Each spell card is to be inscribed onto a piece of paper with your stamp of approval before they can be used in combat. Spell card battles are non-lethal, meaning that nobody is to be killed at the end of a battle. Yes?"

"Wow. You remembered it all. Can't say anything because the original creator of this is explaining it to you. Fu Fu!"

Tylo glanced at the RIG's voice recording and summarizing systems on the HUD before replying.

"There's no surprise. I'm just that good at memorizing stuff."

* * *

By this time, the sun had set fully and the only light that remained was the light of the lit candle on the desk and the moonlight streaming through the paper of the building. The rabbit girls from outside began streaming into the building through the front entrance. Many of them took a glance at the frightened rabbit girl on the ground and all of them did not try to help her. Possibly out of fear of the two strange suits of armor standing in the room.

"A side note Miss Haukrei, I will not switch over to the spell card rule. At least, not yet."

"And why not?"

Tylo took the magazine out of his handgun and pulled out one bullet. He tossed it to Reimu, who caught it with both hands. The black casing and grey tip shone in the dim light.

"This is the 'bullet' I use."

Reimu twirled it around in her fingers. Tylo spoke again.

"This is what went into the maid and the gatekeeper. Careful, the tip is mildly poisonous. Please give it back."

Reimu placed the bullet back onto Tylo's open palm. He put it back into the magazine and put the magazine back into his handgun. He said.

"I don't have any substitutes. But, if it pleases you, I've already come up with spell cards for myself. Just in case."

"May I..."

"How does, 'Flare Sign, "Flash Bang"' sound to you?"

"What kind of name is that?" Reimu said, stifling down a laughter.

Tylo sighed. He heard the sound of the fusuma being shifted. He turned and there, walked out Eirin. She had bags under her eyes and looked extremely tired. Tylo looked her up and down before speaking.

"Hmm, I assume the operation went smoothly? How did it go?"

"Sakuya and Meiling's conditions have stabilized. Those pieces of… fabric you used made the procedure much easier… Tell me, what did you put in them, and what do you mean you were an expert in 'human anatomy'?"

"Oh, human anatomy? I know every vital part of the human body, from head to toe." Tylo said. He pat the rifle that hung on his back before continuing. "I need to know to ensure as an efficient kill as possible."

Eirin looked extremely surprised, whereas Reimu placed her right palm on her forehead and sighed.

"OK, fine. Forget whatever I've said. Before I tell you about the gauze, please do something with your..." Tylo flicked his eyes to the rabbit girl on the ground. "...friend here."

"Oh, Reisen?"

That rabbit girl looked up, her eyes red and tearful. So her name is Reisen… Tylo thought to himself. Duly noted. Reisen sniffled once before running towards Eirin and literally throwing herself at the doctor, burying her head in Eirin's chest.

Tylo shrugged his shoulders. "Well… I honestly have no idea what happened."

"Did you expose her to any sudden, loud noises or bright flashes of light?" Eirin questioned.

"As a matter of fact, yes I did." Tylo said as he tapped the handgun that hung on his leg.

Eirin gently stroked Reisen's head as she sternly told Tylo.

"This girl has gone through some very traumatic experiences in the past. Such noises brings back terrible memories for her. Please be more careful in the future."

Tylo nodded and nudged Reimu, gesturing for her to answer, what kind of traumatic experiences the doctor might be referring to. Reimu responded with a shrug. Tylo acknowledged that. He asked Eirin.

"Doctor..."

"Yagokoro."

"Yes. Doctor Yagokoro, how much do I owe you? More importantly, how are the patients?"

"Recovering. Their bodies suffered catastrophic damage throughout multiple systems. I am genuinely surprised as to how they were still alive. About your tab, well, I've never seen you around before so I guess I'll give you a discount. You owe me 20 000 Yen. Be sure to pay it off soon."

"Oh boy." Miyu said aloud. "That sounds like a lot."

"It actually isn't if you're considering the effort I went through to save them and, not to mention, the value of the human or 'youkai' life."

Miyu shrugged. "Suppose so..."

"By the way..." Eirin began. "You still haven't told me how your fabric swabs work."

Tylo began tapping on his RIG, manipulating the holographic displays. Reimu and Eirin watched with great interest.

"That's so cool!" Reimu couldn't help but exclaim. Eirin put her finger on her lips, telling Reimu to be quiet.

"Oh, sorry but I've never seen such a kind of magic that can display words in thin air like that. What do you call it Mr Tylo and where did you learn how to use such a thing?"

"Its called a RIG. I learnt how to use it when I was four on Sirrea, Ellenove."

Reimu's eyes gleamed. Tylo ignore her. Finally, after much searching, he found the file about biofoam and cast it upon the nearest wall. Eirin and Reimu turned to study the holographic document, but ended up staring at it blankly.

"Umm… I can't read this." Reimu said.

"Interesting. A language I can't understand. Could you translate this..."

"Name's Tylo. An honor."

"Yes, could you please translate this Mr Tylo?"

"OK… Ahem. This substance, Biofoarm is..."

* * *

 _**_ _Brief Description **_

 _Biofoam was developed by NanoTec in 2140 during the colonization of Foundation. At first, the substance was highly corrosive but 100% antiseptic. It wasn't until 2178 when the Biofoam compound was created by condensation reactions between two relatively large monomers and the addition of iron oxides that Biofoam became useable as a healing agent. The technology was gradually improved until the 2200s, when this story takes pace, the technology of Biofoam had become so mature, one could see a wound heal before his eyes._

 _**End **_

* * *

"Phew!" Tylo said. "That took way longer than I would have hoped. I do hope that you are enlightened Doctor."

"Very interesting." She said. "I've never thought of using iron as an ingredient in medicine. And to believe that humans came up with this… Well, I am humbled."

"Humbled?"

"Yes, unlike many of the 'youkai' and humans in this land, I come from the moon. We call ourselves the Lunarians, or at least I used to. Now I am a proud resident of Gensokyo."

"Did the Lunarians hold themselves in high accord?"

"Yes, they did. In fact, the Lunarians are a very proud race. They believe themselves to be far superior to those who live on Earth because they are far more intelligent, stronger and live much, much longer than an Earthling. I used to be that way too, but… Ah, its been such a long time."

Earthing? You mean Celalings or Lolites, Tylo thought to himself. He held his tongue. Tylo, contemplating his next question, decided to take a risk. He asked.

"If I may ask, Doctor Yagokoro, how old are you even?"

Reimu's jaw dropped. Miyu had the 'you never learn now do you' kind of aura around her as the words escaped from Tylo's lips. Eirin said.

"Oh no, its fine Reimu and..."

"Miyu."

"...Miyu. That was an acceptable question. I am..."

Eirin but her hand on her chin and began thinking.

"I am currently… well, approximately 20 000 years old, give or take."

"You're kiddi… No, this is Cela, Gensokyo. Anything can happen."

Eirin laughed. "Haha, I see you are not just a foreigner but a rather new one as well! How old are you?"

"I don't remember. I'm in my twenties."

"Haha, you are so young and yet you don't remember your age?"

"Nope. It isn't important. Not to my duty anyways."

"I see. Do you have anywhere to stay for tonight?"

"Would you count a small chamber about the size and height of an average human?"

"No! Of course not. I doubt anyone can sleep well in such a cramped environment."

"Then I have nowhere to stay."

"I tell you what Mr Tylo, you can stay at Eientei for tonight. We have spare rooms and I'm sure the princess wouldn't mind."

"Princess? Oh… let me guess… A Lunarian?"

"Spot on."

"OK then. I hope her majesty doesn't mind my presence… Wait, I almost forgot!"

Reimu perked her ears up. Eirin listened.

"Reimu, I haven't explained the current situation yet now have I?"

"Hmm… No, you haven't."

"Right. I suppose Doctor Yagokoro can hear me out too. It is not classified information. Do any of you want to sit down?"

Eirin replied. "Oh no. It's fine. I should have offered you the seat. How irresponsible of me."

"That's fine. I'm used to standing for long periods of time… Reimu?"

"It's fine. I can float remember?"

"Alright. Noted. So… have either of you heard of the Spores?"

Both Reimu and Eirin shook their heads. Reisen on the other hand had fallen asleep and was lying across the tatami sleep. Tylo acknowledged their ignorance.

"OK. The Spores are an alien race that NanoTec as of yet, barely know about. They are crawling across the galaxy at just under light speed or 'c'… Do any of you know what the speed of light is?"

Reimu shook her head. Eirin said. "Hmm… It rings a bell."

"The speed of light..." Tylo began, "Is the speed at which light travels at. NanoTec, my people, measure distances in terms of how far light travels in a year or simply put, a lightyear. Approximately 3.26 lightyears is a parsec but I will not explain due to time constraints."

"No, no, its fine. I have all the time you want." Eirin said. "Take your time. I am interested and concerned. If there's a problem, I would try my best to help."

"I'm sleepy." Reimu mumbled.

Tylo ignored the comment.

"To travel across the galaxy… OK, tell me you know what the galaxy is."

"The Lunarian astronomers have mapped out the many constellations in the sky. As the sky was clear all the time, we could see out into the vast stretches of the 'outer world'. This constellation..." Eirin pointed to Ursa Major sewn onto her dress. "Signifies good harvest and bountiful fortune."

"To be frank, NanoTec thinks it looks like a dipper or more crudely, a plow. No significance behind it in my culture."

"Yes… Different people have different cultures as does Gensokyo and the Moon. Come to think about it, your speech seems very… Plain, lifeless and drone-like. Is it part of your culture too?"

"No. We just have no necessity for colorful language. Whatever that can be explained or described with a simple sentence will be done so. No need to speak like Shakespeare."

"Who's Shakespeare?" Reimu and Eirin asked simultaneously.

"A poet and renown human in my people's history."

"I see."

* * *

Two questions restlessly bit at the back of Tylo's mind. One, how did the Lolites, or Lunarians, in the Small Magellanic Cloud, see Ursa Major, which is an Earth unique constellation. Coincidence perhaps, Tylo thought to himself. He brushed that question aside. The second question that was nagging at him was that, if the skies were clear at all times on the moon, then that means that there is no oxygen or any atmosphere for that matter on its surface. He would have asked Eirin, but she was not familiar with Physics or Chemistry, or at least that what it seemed to Tylo. He decided he would get his answers in the near future.

"Right..." Tylo carried on. "Where was I… Yes, to travel across the galaxy, one needs to travel at speeds way faster than the speed of light, if one wants to make it to the other side within one's lifespan… Or at least, a human's lifespan. NanoTec has achieved this feat and we call it Faster than Light travel or FTL for short. We use an Alcubierre Drive to do so and, to explain the principle behind this engine would, again take too long."

Eirin and Reimu nodded, although Reimu seemed very confused by Tylo's speech pattern. Tylo continued.

"The Spores on the other hand, have never broken the light barrier and thus, can crawl across the galaxy over multiple millenia. Doctor Yagokoro, to you this may seem like a short time but by calculations, to travel from Sol, my ancestor's home system, to Sira, my home system, would take eight times your age or at least 160 000 years to do so."

"Oh my… I never imagined the 'outer world' to be so vast and so huge. And yet, you humans were able to devise a way to transverse this void. I am, once again greatly humbled by your people's feats."

Eirin began thinking for a while, before something seemed to pop into her mind. She quickly asked.

"Wait! If you humans came from so far away, then… Why are there humans in this world of Gensokyo?"

"That's a question I am also extremely puzzled by. Sometimes, the answer is best not to be known, but, as a soldier of NanoTec, that is not an option. You will have your answer in due time."

Eirin nodded and gestured for Tylo to continue. Reimu did the same. Apparently she was no longer sleepy.

"As the Spores never broke the light barrier, I would not have expected to see them out here so quickly. Most recently, one of my squad members took down a Spore droid. If you don't know, a droid is an autonomous system that can do things for you if you program it to do things for you. Kind of like puppets or dolls."

"Just like Alice's Shanghai..."

"Pardon Miss Hakurei?"

"Oh, nothing."

Tylo turned and glanced at Miyu. She was asleep. Tired out by the events leading up to then. The more Tylo thought about it, the more tired he felt. He wanted to curl up and fall asleep, but responsibilities took priority. Shaking himself, he continued speaking.

"So, I am worried as to why a Spore droid was here. To be frank, I won't give a damn about your people's well beings as it is not within my duty to do so. But, my people are at risk and therefore, I believe that it is necessary to take care of this incident. After all Miss Hakurei, your job is to resolve incidents, is it not?"

"Yes it is… And please Mr Tylo… call me Reimu. It's weird if you refer to me that way all the time." Reimu's face turned sightly red as she said this.

"Good." Tylo said, seeming to disregard what Reimu just said. "That is why I asked you to trust me Reimu and in return, I'll trust you. Doctor Yagokoro, you too. Will you help me?"

"Yes I will. Gladly."

"Good. I'm glad we have this settled. Reimu, you have a shrine right?"

"Well yes, obviously."

"OK. Goodnight. I will see you tomorrow. Here. I have no fuel left in my jetpack anyways."

Reimu nodded. "Alright… Goodnight Mr Tylo. See you tomorrow."

The jetpack is fueled with water thought Tylo. Reimu didn't need to know that.

With that, Reimu turned and left through the hole in the genkan. Eirin began.

"Well then… Shall I show you two to your room? It's really late now and you'll need the energy for tomorrow."

"Thank you for your hospitality Doctor Yagokoro… No pun intended."

"That's fine. You should thank the princess instead. Tomorrow, she will join us for breakfast. You may talk to her then."

"Alright."

After waking Miyu up, the two soldiers and Eirin eventually reached the guest room of Eientei. With Reisen cradled in Eirin's hands, Eirin showed him the room. It was dimly lit with candles and moonlight, and a futon was already laid out across the tatami mat of the vast room. Even in the dim light, Tylo and Miyu could see the lush decorations of the room, ranging from scrolls across the walls and majestic paintings on the paper partitions of the house.

"I know what you're thinking." Eirin said. "The best for the guests after all!"

Tylo turned and thanked Eirin. What was the Lolite culture again… he thought to himself. Ah, I know!

Tylo placed the heels of both his feet together and bowed towards Eirin.

"Thank you again for this. I am indebted to you."

"Oh dear! No worries!" Eirin said. "I just want to help and, even though it shouldn't affect you, I am glad you have shown concern for my land. Oh..."

Eirin extended out her right hand.

"Humans thank each other this way… Right?"

Tylo brought his right hand up and shook hers firmly. Even through his thick gauntlets, Tylo felt the warmth and kindness of Eirin through it.

"Yes it is." Tylo replied.

 **To be Continued.**


	6. The Forest of Magic

**Das Author's Note:**

 **Hello there. First author's note. Hooray. Here, I would be addressing any new reviews and criticisms. Maybe entertaining people as well... I dunno. We'll see. As it stands, no new reviews. Sad, I know but _c'est la vie._ Hope you'll enjoy. It was fun writing. And do check GKE Universe out too. It's even weirder than this story if you're into that kind of thing... I don't judge.**

 **PS: Sorry for the long wait. O-Levels and stuff.**

* * *

Forest of Magic

"So... What now?" Skye absentmindedly mumbled.

Moho shrugged his shoulders and did not reply. Marisa, who was walking a fair distance behind the two did not hear them, nor would she understand them speaking in English. After discretely leaving the Scarlet Devil Mansion, Skye and Moho decided on returning to their escape pod to restock and resupply. The sun had also fully set, therefore they had no reason to be wandering around aimlessly. According to the teary Remila, the purple clad magic user, Patchouli, was already being taken care of by her servants. Whether true or not, Skye did not know, nor did he really care.

Marisa decided, seemingly against her own will, to follow the two soldiers in the hopes of receiving an explanation as to 'what the hell is going on'. But, as far as it stood, she was not going to get her explanation for as long as she did not trust them.

It was dark. The only way Skye could even see forwards was through infra-red scanning through his front visors. Finally deciding to break the silence, he turned on his translator called out back behind him.

"Hey, um, Miss Marisa?"

"I'm still here. What do you want?"

"Nothing. Just making sure you haven't lost your way."

"I've lived here for more than a decade. The hell you getting at?"

"Nothing."

Skye sighed and threw his hands behind his head before suddenly stopping in pain and slowly easing his hands back to his sides. The knife wounds along his wrists and neck still had not been fully patched up by the biofoam and his nerves were still sensitive. It should be fine by tomorrow he hoped.

The three continued in silence. The night was particularly dark as the moon was waning and the skies were completely overcast. Skye almost expected another attack on his way back but it never came. Perhaps the Lolites are inactive beyond sundown.. Or maybe it was Marisa shadowing the two that scared them away. Who knows?

* * *

After not too long, the three finally arrived at the far bank of the foggy lake where the blackened escape pod lay. The pod's emergency power supply still was able to supply enough power to run a couple blinking red lights. Marisa, through the darkness, looked at the pod curiously but other than that, she kept her distance.

Moho climbed into the pod and began opening lockers and unfolding deployables. The escape pod boasted a single industrial grade fabricator. The device operates by stripping key elements off input substances to 'build' an output product on the molecular level. That being said, one could turn a chunk of haematite and charcoal into a well polished steel broadsword, or something equivalent.

Skye stayed outside to secure the surroundings. Marisa stared at him and every once in a while, he returned a glance or two. It was unnerving and extremely awkward. Finally, Marisa broke the silence and asked.

"So… You all came from… this ze?"

Skye nodded his head.

"That's right. You ready to hear us out?"

Marisa was taken aback slightly.

"Huh? About what?"

"About… ahem, what the hell is going on?"

"Ah, yeah. That. So… Spit it out."

Skye cleared his voice, took a brief scan of the surroundings before he began speaking.

"Right. So, let me touch on this briefly. Ask if you are unclear."

* * *

 _*_ _Flashback to Chapter 5 *_

 _Everything was explained in said chapter. To summarize, The Spores are an alien race of unknown anatomy with a very clear intention of conquering the galaxy, even if at slower than light speeds. After the soldiers of NanoTec landed on Cela, Gensokyo, they discovered the presence of Spore invasion forces (droids) on the planet surface and therefore, feeling it threatens the interests of NanoTec, took the initiative to begin an investigation._

 _*End of Flashback *_

* * *

"And that's where we have ended up." Skye said with a sigh. "I hope you caught everything I said."

"Speed of whatnow?" Marisa asked.

"Light."

"What's that?"

"Do I really have to explain everything? And I thought Lolites were intelligent enough to hold a decent conversation with."

"I'm a human dammit!"

"Ah, yes I forgot."

"And what the hell is a 'Lolite'? I think you mean 'youkai'"

Before Skye could continue, Moho popped out of the escape pod and landed on the ground next to Skye. He threw two magazines for his handgun and a single extra battery for his UV-Laser. Both of which Skye skillfully caught with his two hands. He turned towards Marisa.

"Well… You've heard the story. Is there anything else you need? If not, you may leave."

"Thought you never asked ze." Marisa replied. Through the darkness, Skye could almost make out a smile. The magician pulled out a small glass capsule from her dress and after a sharp whack to it's base, it began glowing as brightly as an incandescent lightbulb. Could she not have pulled that out earlier? Skye thought to himself.

"I think I might regret this but… I wanna help you investigate."

"Huh? Is that so? Don't hope to be of much help though. I doubt you've..."

"Don't underestimate me." Marisa said with a grin. "You can't hope to best me in combat. I am second to none. Other than Reimu but let's not talk about that yeah?"

"Neither do I want to try. It's a waste of my time but fine. I guess having an extra pair of arms and legs wouldn't hurt."

"Now you're talking!" Marisa exclaimed. Despite her enthusiastic portrayal of the situation, Skye could still see the distrust behind those shiny yellow eyes of hers.

"Yeah. Indeed." Skye did another brief scan of the surroundings before continuing. "Anything else?"

"Nope… Hmm, you gonna sleep in that?" Marisa said as she pointed to the escape pod.

"Safest place I can think of."

"I don't think so." Marisa said while shrugging her shoulders. "'Youkai' can probably bust into that thing pretty easily from the looks of it. Doubt you wanna become someone's supper tonight yeah?"

She has no idea what the thing is made of. Skye thought to himself. Graphene supported with nano-diamonds. Nothing short of a high energy heat weapon was going to get through that. Moho gestured for Skye to hurry up. Skye responded with a 'wait' hand sign. Fortunately for him, Marisa really did not know what she was talking about and for a good reason too. Graphene was a NanoTec secret and it was to be so till the Lolites reverse engineer it. Maybe in a million years or two.

Skye, choosing his words carefully, spoke slowly.

"Alright then. What do you suggest?"

"Again… I'm probably gonna regret this ze… Whatever. Come over to my house."

"That doesn't sound very safe."

"Relax. I know what I'm doing."

And alas, the pot calls the kettle black. Marisa did not seem at ease at all. To be fair, she was standing in front of a person with a suspicious speech pattern who just nearly or probably already murdered two people from the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Skye said.

"I don't think you do. First of all, how would I know you wouldn't slit my throat half way through the night and second of all, while this may be none of my business, have you no regard for your safety? You don't know me… Do you?"

Marisa smiled and stared into the soldier's visor.

"Then this will be a test of trust now wouldn't it? Try anything stupid and I'll exterminate you. Plain and simple."

"That did not convince me at all."

"Oh fine! Let's see ze… Hmm… I know where your escape pod is and I could kill you just as easily as at my place ya know."

"Fair point."

Marisa threw her hands behind her head and laughed.

"I knew I was a negotiator at heart! Well then, what are you waiting for?"

Skye sighed and signaled for Moho to follow. The latter nodded and without bothering to hide his frustration, acknowledged the change of plans.

"Go on ahead. I'm right behind you." Skye said.

"Alright! Don't fall behind! I will fly a little slower today for your sakes ze. Take off in 5… 4..."

* * *

Skye sighed yet again. He ran towards the lake and jumped straight in. Moho followed suit. Flicking certain buttons on his RIG and his fusion jetpack itself, he submerged himself fully in the water as plumes of bubbles effervesced from the device. Refueling.

The fusion jetpack was not particularly fussy on what kind of liquid was used as nuclear fuel. As long as said liquid contained dihydrogen monoxide or in layman's terms, liquid water. Using what remaining power stored within the device, it would electrolyze the water, splitting it into two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen. The oxygen would be used to refill the Buzzard suit's life support and the hydrogen would be used to power the tiny fusion reactor mounted on said armor suit's back.

Skye then flipped a final switch on his RIG and he shot out of the water like a rocket, leaving a steamy mess under him. His jetpack was now fully refueled and Marisa stood there by the lake edge gawking at the spectacle.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Let's go." Skye said with a grin on his face. That shocked expression was golden he thought to himself.

"Y-Yeah. Follow me yeah?" Marisa stuttered.

"Lead the way." Skye said with a smirk.

With a sudden rush of air, Marisa while straddling her broomstick, launched high into the air, much like Reimu did earlier. Skye adjusted his thrust and followed closely after. By the time he turned to make sure Moho was following, Marisa had already disappeared above the clouds.

Skye was not worried. He simply raised his altitude to what he estimated was correct and set his visor to infra-red receiving mode. In no time at all, he spotted the speeding Marisa and, with a single Orion-type propulsion, caught up with her effortlessly.

Above the clouds, the moon was shining brightly despite it not being a full moon. As though a blindfold was removed, Skye could now see perfectly. Every bristle of Marisa's broom dancing in the wind, together in sync with her long black dress and equally long hat. Turning his head, the bluish white moon light reflected beautifully off Moho's blue helmet, like a little lighthouse in the distance.

Needless to say, Marisa was pretty surprised with the two soldiers' feats. Skye raised his right hand and gave her a thumbs up, unintentionally instigating her to go even faster. She did just that and Skye followed suit. He showed Marisa the thumbs up again, rinse and repeat.

Through the armor of his suit, Skye could already hear the violent howling of the sub-sonic wind and feel its mild turbulence about his feet. A dim white shock cone began forming around Marisa as her speed gradually increased, faster and faster until eventually, a loud boom and then no more sound at all. They had broken the sound barrier.

* * *

Did it not hurt her ears? Skye thought to himself. He turned towards Marisa. Still flying perfectly fine and even reaching into her dress for something. He then began wondering how the aerodynamic properties of supersonic air did not affect Marisa's flying. Moving her hands around and not even bending forwards to cone the air and reduce drag. How strange he thought.

Only until Marisa pulled out a strange device from her dress and strapped it to the back of her broomstick did Skye actually take proper notice of the magician. The little device began to glow a bright white blue light and Marisa, hugging the broom tightly yelled with all her might.

"Comet! Blazing Star!"

The device immediately lit up, spewing luminescent particles and stars at great volume out the back of the broomstick and like a Saturn V rocket. Marisa, now enveloped in a bright blue cone of light, immediately put distance between the NanoTec soldiers, leaving them in disdain.

Under his helmet, Skye's face formed a slight smile. He gestured to Moho who was flying behind him by shaking the jetpack's delta wing tips left and right. Moho nodded and gave a small thumbs up.

"Voice command." Skye said.

"*Speak.*" The suit's AI systems replied.

"Propulsion mode, Daedalus."

"*Confirmed.*"

Skye braced himself. In a surge of power, he felt himself being pushed forwards at multiple gees. Hot helium plasma disfigured the air behind him as the air was effectively ionized into its constituent particles.

Marisa stared in horror as he, a mere outsider, overtook her with such a feeble trick. He stared into her eyes as he slid past. Get on my level. He silently thought to himself. His armor's temperature started to increase as air friction increased exponentially. All of that took only five seconds.

His armor was in no danger of melting yet but Skye felt ecstatic. He never had this much fun in his life. Marisa's image receded as he got further and further away… and then her image started getting bigger again. Skye's RIG began beeping.

"*Warning. Fuel levels critical.*" His AI literally shouted at him.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me." Skye mumbled to himself as his altitude dipped and as he eased into a free fall.

* * *

Skye soon could hear again, the sound of the wind rushing past his ears like the howling of wolves. He began spinning and there was no delta v left in his jetpack to correct his lateral rotation. From the corner of his eyes, he saw the silhouette of the magician zip past overhead and did not stop.

So much for guiding us. Skye thought to himself as he desperately tried to correct his fall. Then again, I was the one who kind of instigated the 'race'. He continued. The clouds began to envelop and obscure Skye's vision. He knew neither up or down as he descended.

The clouds cleared from Skye's vision soon enough but, through infra-red mapping of the ground below, the trees were already at Skye's forehead. Instinctively, he raised his head, pitching himself upwards and barely avoiding impalement from one of the higher branches.

Skye leveled himself and began trying to bleed off as much speed as possible before landing. The clouds in the area was less dense than the previous take off point by the misty lake. So, Skye was able to just about see normally. What was strange, was a little black sphere that blotted out a portion of the sky.

"Oh no. Not again." Skye swore to himself.

The sphere got bigger and bigger, obviously heading in the soldier's direction. Skye turned behind briefly and as it turned out, Moho was nowhere to be found. Fantastic. Skye banked left immediately and since he was still flying relatively fast, the wind responded immediately, flipping him left, almost spinning him.

The black sphere narrowly missed him, but came around quickly for a second attack. Skye had no time to dodge and was immediately enveloped in darkness.

"There you are!" A voice echoed from within the sphere, above the roaring of the winds.

Skye reached out and grabbed the first thing he got his hands on. It was soft and relatively squishy.

"H-Hey!" The voice sounded again. "L-Let go!"

The next thing Skye knew, something very hot accumulated around his abdomen as he was blasted away by glowing spheres of green. His armor had not been damaged. In fact, its temperature did not even go up by that much but Skye was now in free fall again and, this time falling backwards. He had no way to control his descent and the sharp impact from a tree was the first thing he felt soon after.

The shock jarred him, forcing air out of his lungs violently and saliva out of his mouth as his body was nearly bent awkwardly with his spine as the axis. Grabbing the nearby tree branch, Skye slowed his fall, showering the ground below with bark.

The sphere of darkness followed and with a great deal of strength, slammed into Skye's body, forcing him straight to the ground. He fell back first and the ground came like a truck. Again, his breath was forced from his body and his eyesight blurred briefly.

* * *

He was now on his back and the obvious aggressor was now sitting on top of him within the intangible black mass of darkness. The ball of darkness faded slightly and Skye could see very clearly, the twinkling red eyes of Rumia and her shiny front incisors.

"I've finally found you! You were a big meanie this morning!" Rumia snarled.

Skye remained silent as he struggled to get her off.

"You… Hurt me!" Rumia said as she pointed to a small tear in her black dress in her side. The rims of the spherical breach was caked with a dull red crust.

"And because of you, I could not eat today and I'm very, very hungry." Rumia bore her teeth.

"I suggest you reconsider." Skye said softly, coughing in between words.

"Why? Why should I listen to a meanie like you? I'm really gonna eat you now."

Without batting an eyelid, Rumia swiftly lowered her head and sunk her teeth into Skye's neck, or at least tried to. Graphene net meshes stood in between her teeth and Skye's throat. She recoiled back in disgust and blasted Skye's visor with the balls of light.

"Alright that's it!" Rumia said. "I'm gonna kill you first."

"Again, I suggest you reconsider." Skye said again.

"Hmph! We'll see!" Rumia said again as she brought both of her hands up and gathered a bright red ball in her palms.

Skye coughed. "Fine. So be it."

With that, Rumia suddenly recoiled sharply, arching her back in agony. Her eyes shot wide open and her mouth hung agape. All in a split second. Electrical discharge from the suit's power banks. Skye immediately grabbed Rumia by her dress and literally threw her off him, causing her to roll across the foliage, kicking up leaves in her path.

Skye brought himself to his knees, with his right hand painfully supporting the weight of his body. He brought his left hand to draw his handgun but was immediately pounced onto by Rumia, causing Skye to drop his sidearm.

"That hurt!" She yelled, dropping her field of darkness slightly.

Skye held both of Rumia's hands as she pushed him backwards slightly with the momentum of her attack.

"Serves you right." He replied.

Rumia opened her mouth to retort but with a carefully calculated maneuver, Skye crossed his arms, bringing Rumia's hands to the opposite side of each respective shoulder and swatted her aside with a swift strike with his right. Rumia grimaced in shock.

She spun midair and flew straight for Skye again. Her face met Skye's left fist and her body spun with her upper cranium as the pivot. Rumia ended up lying face up on the ground, but rolled away quickly enough to avoid Skye's curb stomp. Skye did not give chase, but instead rolled over to a nearby tree and picked up the pistol that he dropped earlier. He leaned against the great trunk of the tree as he placed Rumia in between the iron sights of the gun.

Rumia's nose was bleeding. She hovered at a distance, her gaze like daggers. Her face was scowled up in anger. Skye brought himself up to a standing position. He staggered slightly but otherwise was up. He assumed a long stance, preparing for Rumia's next attack.

"I'm going to finish you with this! Spell card!" Rumia's voice echoed through the forest that stretched forever.

Skye tensed up and wiggled the fingers on his right hand.

"Darkness Sign!" Rumia yelled. "Moonligh… Ugh!"

Rumia's voice was cut short, by the shot that cut through the emptiness of the night. Rumia stared at her left chest where a bloody red hole appeared. She coughed once and then recoiled backwards again as another hole appeared next to the first. The red spread further as she collapsed to her knees and her darkness dissipated.

Skye slowly put down the smoking pistol and breathed a sigh of relief. He continued eyeing Rumia as he slowly walked towards her.

"H-How coul..." Rumia slowly began as she tried staggering to her feet. The pain in her chest was unlike anything she had ever felt before. The pain was overwhelming and she collapsed back to the ground again, breathing heavily.

Skye observed the sprawled body of Rumia at the ground. So much for that. Skye thought to himself. Oh well, let's eliminate the threat quickly. Skye raised the pistol again, this time aimed at Rumia's head.

Rumia turned and blindly stared at the barrel of the handgun. Would that kill her? She wondered. Who knows? She shut her eyes, awaiting her fate.

Skye stared into Rumia's teary eyes. He hesitated. Could he really shoot someone looking at him like that? He saw her eyes close, in resignation to her death. Skye shut his eyes for a brief moment and breathed deeply. He opened his eyes again, this time his gaze cold and hard.

"Sorry. This is war." He whispered and pulled the trigger.

* * *

Bang! The gunshot resounded about the trees of the forest. Some crows perched on the higher branches of a nearby tree flew off in a frenzy, cawing in fright. Rumia hurdled into a fetal position, covering her head with both of her hands. Skye stared at the scene in shock. His hands had been pulled free of its previous position and was now hanging with the gun pointed up to the sky. Holding said hand up, was a lady in a light blue dress with long white sleeves. Blond hair and yellow eyes like Marisa, but her hair was short, and had a red hair band on her head. She stood at a height shorter than Marisa too, and someone Skye had never seen before.

In fact, she was not actually holding Skye's hand up but one of her puppets, dressed in an outfit almost akin to hers but black with a white apron and a red ribbon on her head. It was hovering and had a jousting lance supporting the weight of Skye's arm. Little, almost invisible strings connected the girl to the doll. Her stare, was directed at the soldier and with brief glances, at Rumia.

"Let the girl go." She said quietly but with a ferocity that made a chill go up Skye's spine.

"Huh? Where did you come from?" Skye said instinctively in apparent surprise.

"One does not simply miss the racket you were making just now." The girl said as a matter of factly. "Let him go."

The doll nodded and eased away from Skye, letting his arm fall to his side. He stared blankly at the almost autonomous construct.

"A-Alright. Fine." He said as he placed his handgun back into its rightful place. "Done."

"Thank you." The girl said and averted her gaze briefly before turning back towards Skye. "You were not following the spell card rules. Why?"

"What is the spell card rules? You do realize that I'm a foreigner yes?"

The girl paused. She looked him up and down before continuing. "Yes, of course. I just realized. Fine. Please follow it next time. You traumatized the poor 'youkai' you know."

"That's her problem. She attacked me so I defended myself."

The girl narrowed her eyes. She was not buying it.

"That does not change the fact that you did not follow the spell card rules… And what are you doing out here in this hour?"

"How much do you want to know?"

The girl sighed and suddenly, turned and looked over to her right. Skye instinctively followed her gaze.

"Oh dear." She began. "Don't tell me you're conspiring something with her."

"Who? Oh..." Skye noticed the dim magical light approaching in the distance through the dense foliage.

Moho was walking slightly behind Marisa and the magician was waving her hands like a maniac. The light from her bottle unevenly lighting the way due to her swinging. She then saw the girl and suddenly stopped waving.

"I guess I'll be taking my leave." The girl said before hastily turning and beginning to walk away. "Geez. For the love of Zun." she muttered under her breath as she disappeared into the darkness.

Skye stood there blankly. Marisa, finally crossing over the last tree root in her path, said.

"There you are. I heard some loud noises. Thought you died for a sec."

"Glad you were concerned." Skye said sarcastically. "So… where to now?"

Marisa opened her mouth to speak but left it hanging when she saw the injured Rumia stagger to her feet. Skye shrugged his shoulders.

"You did it again." Marisa said, her face deadpan. "What did Rumia ever do to you… then again don't answer that."

Skye shrugged his shoulders again. He was not even going to try to explain himself. Marisa turned towards Rumia and began speaking.

"You OK?"

Rumia nodded with tear filled eyes. She pointed at Skye without a word.

Marisa stared at Skye.

"Well… She attacked me first." Skye said as a matter of factly.

"T-That's because you were being mean this morning!" Rumia retorted.

"There is a significant difference from that guy and me. You know that."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rumia tilted her head slightly.

"Means that you found the wrong person." Skye said again. Rumia recoiled in realization.

"Oh… Ummm, I'm..." Rumia began.

"No need to apologize. I'm used to it." Skye reached into the suit and pulled out two biofoam swabs. He tossed said swabs at Rumia who after a bit of fumbling, caught one with her hands and the other with her teeth.

"It will make you feel better."

Rumia knelt down again. Probably due to the injuries. She looked at the packaged swabs curiously and began to bite onto them. The anti-static plastic wrapping crinkled under her teeth. Moho could not help but steal a laugh.

"No. Not like that." Skye said. He took the swabs out of Rumia's hands and swiftly tore them out of the packaging and placed them on Rumia's afflictions.

"There. Much better right?" Skye asked, to which Rumia nodded.

"Good. If it would make you feel any better, I'm sorry but next time find somebody else to eat. I'm not particularly tasty." Skye added as he knocked the graphene platings on his suit.

Rumia stood up, this time much easier. Surprising really. Skye never knew biofoam would work on Lolites. I guess the NanoTec scientists really meant it when they said, 'all carbon based lifeforms.' Marisa walked over to Rumia's side and patted her head.

"Let's never talk to that mean person again yeah? Go on." Marisa said.

"I'm sleepy… and hungry." Rumia said weakly. She attempted to envelop herself with darkness but could barely hold it for a moment.

Marisa snapped her fingers. "Tell you what Rumia, I'll let you come over for tonight. How's that sound?"

Rumia's eyes lit up. Apparently forgetting all the pain she went through earlier.

"Really?!" she asked.

"Mmhm. Just don't try to eat the guy again ze." Marisa glanced at Skye.

"OK. Thanks ~" Rumia jumped and hugged Marisa, who breathed a sign of relief.

"Good." Marisa began. "Now to the next subject, I see you've met Alice."

"Who me? Ah, yes. I assume I have." Skye said.

"What did she say to you."

"Let's make our way back to your house first and then we talk. Would probably be more comfortable"

"Fair enough. This way." Marisa gestured and pointed in the direction she came from. "Luckily for you, you did not land far from my place. Let's go."

* * *

Marisa's house was really only just a stone throw away from where Skye landed. About 40 meters south. Her house was a wreck. At least as how Skye saw it. Half rotting wooden planks were overgrown with vines and fungi. There were only three windows on the house. All on the front, one on the top and the last two next to the front door by the left and the right. Of course, Skye knew not to say anything. He was, after all a guest and an outsider.

"Nice view." Skye absentmindedly said.

"Why, thank you." Marisa said.

Walking up to the front door, she twisted the handle and pushed it open. The door creaked on its hinges and little flakes of rust fell from the edges of the door. So much for maintenance. Marisa threw her broomstick onto the floor raised both her hands and shouted.

"Welcome! Welcome to my humble residence. Make yourselves at home ze."

Skye looked around. Books. And lots of them. They lay scattered on the floor, by the doorway, on the couch, inside a sink, you name it. A musty smell wafted from the piles. Disturbing? A little. Rumia idly flew around the room for a while before settling onto the couch. Skye and Moho looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders. Again. They entered the house and sat at the dining table. Marisa took her fancy witch hat off and threw it across the room. The large thing bounced off a nearby wall and landed on Rumia. She did not seem to mind and even if she did, she did not react.

"I'm going to go and take a bath. Be right back ze." Marisa said as she quickly made her way up to the second floor. "And no peeping." She added before she disappeared up the stairs.

The sound of another door opening was heard. Followed by the sound of running water shortly after. Skye idly looked around. The magical light lay on the kitchen counter, eerily illuminating the room. A spider was crawling across the nearest window and, with a lighting fast strike, caught a fly for dinner. Never knew there were predatory spiders on Cela. Skye thought to himself. Duly noted.

* * *

Skye sat there rather unknowing of what to do. He fidgeted in his seat, making creaking sounds from the chair. Moho stood up and began pacing back and forth. He walked over to the kitchen counter and picked up a book that was in the sink. He flipped it open and began skimming through it. His face was covered by his helmet, so Skye was unable to read what kind of thoughts were flowing through that mind of his. What he did know however, was that a slight increase in Moho's heart rate was detected. Over what, Skye did not know.

Moho suddenly closed the book and tossed it at Skye, who caught it with his right hand.

"See." He said. "I told you I'd fine a book named Pornhub somewhere."

Skye brought his eyes upon the black book with yellow stripes. Lo and behold, the title 'Pornhub' was written in big bold letters on the hard cardboard cover of the rather thick book.

"Should I? Why not." Skye said aloud to himself as he gingerly pried the book open.

The pages were glued together. By what, Skye rather not know.

"Disappointing. I must say." he said to himself as he opened the book from the back.

Out fell a 700 GB thumbdrive that had the insignia of InterCon on it. 700 Gigabytes of you-know-what. Moho stared with a smug grin on his face at Skye, slowly shaking his head.

"For research." Skye said monotonously as he plugged the thumbdrive into his RIG.

"*Data corrupted*." His suit's AI said.

"Piss."

Moho snickered… and ate the book to the face. The soft thud was heard and a cloud of dust lingered in the air around Moho. He shook his head again, obviously mocking Skye. He walked over to the couch and slowly lifted the witch hat off Rumia's head.

The girl backed away in shock but quickly calmed down. She stared at Moho sheepishly, waiting for something to happen.

"So… Rumia. That's your name, correct?"

The Lolite nodded her head.

"And you are a… Lolite. Right?"

Rumia's face reddened as she stood up raising her hands perpendicularly to her torso in protest.

"Ah, sorry. I did not know it was an ins… Oof!"

Moho was blasted by a single ball of light. He fell onto the floor. Said floor cracked under the soldier's mass, making a sickening crack sound.

"Don't call me that!" Rumia pouted.

"Sorry. Sorry." Moho said as he stood up and reached his hands out to pat Rumia on the head. He hung his hand in the air for a good five seconds before deciding against the course of action.

"I would like to ask you a few questions OK?" he probed Rumia.

The girl nodded. "Sure. I guess..."

"Good." Moho assured. "First, if you don't like being called 'Lolite', what should I call you and your friends in general?"

Rumia responded with a quick swipe at Moho's face. Her hand deflected off his helmet and she shook her hand in the air feverishly in pain.

"'Youkai'." Rumia said in a huff.

"Alright then. Youki it is."

"'Youkai'!"

"Youki?"

"'Youkai'!" Rumia slapped Moho on the other side of his face with her other hand. The same results were achieved.

"Cute." Skye said. "If there is anything I've learnt today, you'd make a terrible linguist."

"Shaddap." Moho said. Rumia in turn stuck her tongue out at Skye.

"Fine fine. I'm the bad guy. I get it." He said sarcastically.

"OK then…" Moho turned and faced Rumia again. "Tell me. Have you seen anything odd today in… this place?"

Rumia pointed at Skye. "His face is odd."

Skye snorted in amusement. Moho shook his head.

"Besides him. We all already know that."

"Hey! Whose side are you on? And she hasn't even seen my face before!" Skye said.

"Sssh." Moho retorted.

Rumia tilted her head in thought. She placed her left index finger on her chin as she thought. Every once in a while, her head would tilt the other way and the other index finger would come up to replace the first. Finally, she replied.

"Ah! Yes! I remember seeing a giant metal thing fall from the sky today!"

"Besides that too." Moho said, still patient with the little youkai.

"Hmm…" Rumia continued to think. Perhaps it would be best to leave her be for a while.

Moho placed the witch hat back onto Rumia's head. Yes, leave her be for the time being. He walked back to the dining table and sat opposite to Skye.

"You suppose that… Marisa would be down soon?"

"Probably… Ah speak of the devil."

* * *

The sound of someone's footsteps echoed from the upper floor of the building and soon enough, Marisa emerged from the stairs and jumped down to the ground floor.

"Ah. That was a nice bath. Hope you all didn't wait too long." Marisa said.

Skye looked at her, slowly scanning her attire. It was a black nightgown. Nothing special, nothing out of place.

"That's fine." Skye said. "Shall I make myself at home?"

"Yeah yeah ze. Go ahead. The house couldn't get any messier." She said.

"Sure. Thanks." Skye said as he let himself fall of the chair and onto the floor.

"Good night." He said.

"W-Wait. You haven't ate dinner yet have you?" Marisa asked.

No reply. He was out like a light. Or he simply shut down all audio equipment on his RIG. Same outcome really. Or, Skye was just ignoring Marisa. He did that often on Sirrea too. Moho decided to assume that was the case.

Moho shrugged his shoulders. "Well, his loss."

"Ya. Certainly ze." Marisa replied.

"So, what do you have?"

"How do mushrooms sound to you?"

"Could be worse."

"Thanks..." Marisa said as she walked over to the kitchen with her shoulders slumped.

She proceeded to pull a bunch of brown, large capped mushrooms out from the cupboard and toss them into the sink. Goodness knows how old they were, and how much mold they had accumulated. Oh well. Moho thought to himself. What goes better with fungi than fungi.

Marisa then brought out a medium size cast iron pot and filled it with water from the tap. Running water. Surprising to say the least. Moho thought again to himself. Marisa then threw all of the mushrooms from the sink into the pot and placed the pot into the sink. Marisa then said proudly.

"Now, the fun part. Fireworks ze."

"I don't see a stove anywhere for 'fireworks' you know."

"Ah, yes you can. It's right here. See?"

Marisa held an octagonal shaped box painted with oriental designs and a yin-yang symbol in its center. She threw it into the air and caught it for show.

"Here we go. Watch and be impressed. 20%! Love Sign!.."

Moho remained silent. Rumia, lifted the brim of the witch hat slightly and peeped under it, observing the scene before her.

"MASTER SPARK!"

* * *

Five minutes later, a bowl of steaming mushroom soup lay in front of Moho. Two more bowls of mushroom soup also lay in front of Rumia and Marisa. The latter's dress soiled badly by stains of the food she made.

"Somehow..." Moho began. "I'm not surprised."

"Eheheh..." Marisa laughed nervously.

"I know you were trying to impress me. Frankly, I am. Amused actually."

Marisa smiled sheepishly as she rubbed the back of her head. Rumia eyed the soup with gleaming eyes, completely obvious to the conversation taking place. Rumia then picked the bowl of soup and began drinking it. At first slowly and then the rest in a single gulp. Rumia yawned, opening her mouth as wide as she did when she drank the soup. Feeling refreshed, she floated back over to the couch and sat with her legs crossed. Guess no more questions for her, Moho thought to himself.

"So… Yeah." Marisa began. "Dig in. We haven't got all night."

Moho looked at Marisa and then at the soup. It was brown with bits of red and yellow floating in select places. Just like nutrition paste… Moho put a finger into the bowl and lifted it out. His finger was coated with the brown stuff. It had the consistency of glue and smelt… delicious. Moho turned his translator off and spoke in English.

"Man. This does look a little like crap… Doesn't smell like it though... Computer."

"*Speak.*" it responded. Marisa tilted her head and looked curiously at Moho as though he was speaking complete and utter gibberish.

"Analyze substance."

"*Acknowledged.*"

After a brief moment, Moho's RIG relayed the results briefly. Mushroom based liquid food. 234 calories. May be mildly toxic. Moho stared at the results. Reassuring. Marisa began speaking.

"Shnierunona? Gata ana taow be..." Moho switched his translator back on. "...done eating, it will be morning ze."

Marisa ended her sentence by taking a bite of the soup herself. She gave Moho a thumbs up sign, indicating to him it was edible. He shrugged his shoulders.

"Oh well… What's the worst that could happen..."

Moho pressed a few buttons on his RIG. Marisa eyed him closely, in apparent apprehension. A small slit opened at the bottom of his helmet, exposing his chin and mouth. Marisa's face drooped as Moho stuck his finger into his mouth.

"Hmm… tastes a little bland, although albeit a little sour… Hmm? You wanted to see my face huh?"

"W-What? Ahh… Damn. I'm so easily read huh. Uuu ~."

"Not today girl. Not today."

"Aww. Come on da ze. Just satisfy this pretty girl's demands and I'll let you..."

"No thanks. I rather live past today."

Marisa was struck silent instantly. Rumia's eyes widened as she covered her mouth with both of her hands. Skye seemed to stir. Marisa breathed in and out slowly, having had her charisma broken, she was walling in embarrassment. Finally regaining her composure after a good ten seconds, Marisa spoke again.

"That… was uncalled for. You know that." she said, her face beet red.

"What?"

"Ughh! You're denser than lead. You know that ze?"

"Actually, osmium is the densest element… Or iridium, depending on what scale you are measuring with."

"Goddammit mister..."

"Name's Moho."

"Right… Whatever. Now, down to business. What did Alice say to you?"

Moho lifted his eyebrow. Under the helmet, Marisa would not have been able to see that.

"Err. It was, Skye who met her. Not me. I was with you remember?"

"Oh… Err, yeah. I totally remembered."

Moho shrugged his shoulders.

"Gosh. They look so similar in those clunks of metal." Marisa muttered under her breath.

* * *

Half an hour later, three empty bowls of soup lay in the sink. Marisa lay back of her seat with her hands tucked behind her head. Moho on the other hand sat at his seat unmoving. Rumia now lay asleep on the couch, her entire body sprawled out over the furniture.

"Oh boy." Moho nearly moaned. "My digestive system says no. I should have listened to my RIG but no..."

"Relax yo." Marisa said. "You'd get used to it ze."

"I hope I don't have to..."

"You insult my cooking you know. How rude!"

Moho stood up in the hopes that his stomach would feel better. It did not. He sat back down again.

"Well, you're free to share the room ze. I guess you're trustworthy enough."

"So easily?" Moho raised his eyebrows again.

"Nope. You're gonna have to take a bath if you do. You reek."

"I guess I'll be staying downstairs tonight."

"Suit yourself." Marisa said, flicking her hair back to emphasize herself.

Marisa began walking up the stairs. She suddenly stopped and turned back towards Moho.

"You sure?" she asked.

"Yeah. Good night."

Marisa nodded. "Ze. Good night."

Her silhouette disappeared up the stairs. The magical light Marisa left on the table began to dim, its life time coming to an end. He sighed and sat down next to Skye's unmoving body. He looked around the room. Rumia was asleep on the couch. Who knew what would happen when you wake a sleeping youkai. Moho did not know nor did he want to know.

"I'll take first watch sir. I'll wake you up when it's your turn."

Skye did not move. A message simply appeared on Moho's RIG.

Good luck. Lt. Fukai.

Moho sighed. It was going to be a long night. And an even longer day after.

 **To be continued.**


	7. Leaving the Bamboo Forest

**Das Author's Note: Hello again. This chapter came quite quickly if I must say so myself. During the time of writing, I got 2 new followers and 5 new favorites! Woo ho! This month's a great month! I also received 3 whole new reviews! Thanks! Life's been kind. Anyways, time to address the reviews yeah? Feel free to skip them.**

 _I wonder what would happen if they met Yukari... On another note, keep up the good work. This story is amazing._ **\- All in due time. You'll see soon enough... Thanks for the compliment. I've always thought the story was weird...**

I really like your story, in fact I reason to read NanoTec. A single doubt what happened in PC 98 will be canon ? I asked why it would be very interesting that Yumemi met some protagonist. **\- Thanks for the compliment! And please do read NanoTec if you're into hard-ish science fiction. I've been working on it for a millennia already... OK, fine it's only a year and it's nowhere from complete. Also, all in due time. You'll see soon enough.**

I'm very sure Eirin is smart enough to know what speed of light means and who Shakespeare is. - **Incoming wall of text, please standby... OK, she is, in fact undoubtedly more intelligent than my flimsy** **protagonists. However, please remember that Eirin is a Lunarian and was never from Earth. In fact, the moon she lived on was the moon of Cela, which has a thin oxygen atmosphere to harbor life. Also, the humans that magically appeared on Cela, Gensokyo, were from the 16th century, Edo period of Japanese origin. They wouldn't have known Shakespeare was and that applies to Eirin too. The speed of light is a constant term, coined by humans as a measurement of photonic velocities. Eirin, although smart, wouldn't know about it simply because the scientific advancements and knowledge of her society was not quite there yet. In fact, there's an entire history catering just to the Lolites which I will write in NanoTec in maybe a year or two. They wiped themselves out multiple times in their history and genetic engineering was a technology they were able to hold onto all these while. That's why there are Youkai and Lunarians... but that's a story for another day. Maybe Yukari can tell you more about it. She's old enough to have been around the second Lolite empire's time after all.**

* * *

Leaving the Bamboo Forest

 _I_ _am_ _stand_ _ing_ _under the tori gate of a shinto shrine. Not a particularly fancy shrine really. It's more dilapidated than a structure of religious importance. There is nothing different about the weather that day, a windy evening without a single cloud in the sky._

 _A particular shrine maiden is standing behind me. I hear her shouting. About what? What?! I yell back. But my voice is not there. In fact, I cannot even control my own body. I am staring up into the sky and through the darkening horizon, there are flashes of light in the heavens. Bright lights. Some yellow, some orange, some pure white._

 _Within seconds, I see stars. Shooting stars. Falling from the sky like pillars of fire. Missiles? From my frazzled state of mind I cannot make out what they are. The shrine maiden behind me becomes frantic. She tears me from my trance and looks me in the eyes. Her eyes are red and tearful. She is begging me to do something. I know because I can see her mouth moving. I just cannot hear her words._

 _Without control of my body, I fling her away, sending her spiraling to the ground. I turn around again and as I do so, the pillar of fire that extended beyond the horizon lights the sky as bright as day. My vision is bathed in pure whiteness._

 _I hear the shrine maiden weep. She is crying… as though she lost someone important. My eyes suddenly close, and my helmet unfolds. The wailing of wind becomes apparent and suddenly, I feel cold hard metal below my chin. Is that a gun?! I am pretty sure it is. And then I was confident it was when I heard the bang…_

* * *

Tylo shot out of his futon, throwing the blanket across the room. His eyes were wide open and a few drops of sweat trickled down his forehead. He unfolded his helmet and touched his own face. Yep, still there. I'm not dead. Tylo reassured himself.

Looking around, he spotted Miyu fast asleep across the room. Her helmet was still folded over of course so he was unable to tell what she was thinking of at the moment.

"What a dream..." Tylo said to himself as he placed his palm on his face. "Was that me? Couldn't be… Could it?"

Tylo looked around the room again. Dim rays of light streamed through the translucent paper partitions at roughly 30 degrees, angle of depression. By rough calculations, Tylo confirmed it was at least 7 to 8 am. Or mid-morning.

Tylo was not superstitious. In fact, he was far from that. More materialistic than anything. But he knew better than to disregard dreams that clear and vivid. He pulled out the red and blue crystals from his suit. The ones he collected from the slain fairies. Could they be the cause? He thought to himself. Perhaps Doctor Yagokoro could answer his questions.

As Tylo proceeded to stand up, he heard the shoji or sliding door open. The same rabbit from last night, the one in the business suit, Reisen, walked in.

"Oh! Good morning sir." She said. "I hope I didn't wake you."

"That's fine. I was already ready to leave…"

"That's a shame." She said with a sigh. "There's breakfast if you so desire. I'm sure the princess would like to meet you before you leave."

"Is there? Thanks but no thanks. I have my own meals and I do intend to get them soon. Again, thank your… masters for their hospitality but I really must get going."

Reisen's ears suddenly began twitching. Left, right, left, right they moved. She donned a serious expression and said.

"Hmm… New orders from Eirin-san… She insists."

"I guess it can't be helped." Tylo pressed a few buttons on his RIG and Miyu instantly shot out of bed looking very shocked. "Come. Let's go." He said quickly.

* * *

Reisen led the two soldiers further down the dim hallways of Eientei. Many, many rooms branched off to the sides. All of them were ignored until the three arrived in a spacious, brightly lit room with a table not so discretely placed in the center. On the table already arranged were utensils and cutlery. Wooden chopsticks and ceramic bowls with oriental designs were the only things on the table actually. There was a very ancient Japanese feel to the setting.

Tylo took his seat at one of the corners of the table, about a seat away from the table head. Miyu took her seat opposite to him.

"I'll be right back s..."

"Just call me Tylo." he said. "I am not your commander."

"Ah… Yes. Sorry." Reisen bowed. "I'll be back Mr Tylo and Miss..."

"Name's Miyu." she said.

"Ahh… Of course. I'll be back!" Reisen nearly squeaked as she ran off in a hurry.

Tylo shrugged his shoulders… Again. She seems rather timid. Tylo thought to himself. Was it because of last night's incident? Miyu called out to Tylo. He turned and Miyu immediately began speaking.

"Do you need last night's report?" she asked.

"Nope. I had the RIG AI do it for us. It's all done."

"Noted sir… Any leads so far?"

Tylo's thoughts flicked to the strange dream for a brief moment. He shook his head.

"Nope. Not a clue. If we're ever going anywhere, we better begin soon. Unfortunately for us..."

The sound of a sliding door opening was heard. Eirin walked into the room and quickly made her way to her seat.

"Good morning Mr Tylo and Miss Miyu." Eirin said with a smile. "I trust you slept well."

"Well enough I guess." Miyu said. Tylo gestured to Miyu with an 'as she said' kind of gesture.

Eirin nodded.

"That's good to hear."

Tylo put his hand to his chin.

"Doctor. If I may ask a question, should I expect any symptoms as to adapting to this new land you call… Gensokyo?"

"Hmm… No. I don't think so." Eirin began. "However, some magically inclined people may suffer from… How would you put this… emotional distress, yes they may suffer from that every once in a while for a week. It's normal, at least in theory. But I may have to study that a little more to be sure."

"Point taken doctor. Thank you… Another thing..."

"Hmm?"

"Do these crystals have any cognitive attributes, say… Affects the mind of anyone of the sorts?"

Tylo pulled out the red and blue crystals.

"No." Eirin gave the answer like a snap of a finger.

"I see." Tylo said. "Thank you."

Tylo put the crystals back away.

* * *

At this moment, the sliding doors opened again. Reisen walked back into the room and behind her followed a woman with long black hime cut hair and a pale, doll-like face. She wore a pink blouse with white ribbons and a long skirt decorated with flower and bamboo patterns. Obviously the resident princess. Reisen then bowed again and exited the room through the same door she entered by.

By human standards, she was extremely beautiful… But upon careful inspection, it was obvious she was not human at all. Close, but not quite. Much like a Lolite, her optic nerve was enlarged and her nose small in proportion to her face. Nevertheless, Tylo could not help himself but to flick occasional glances in her direction. Thankfully for him, she was not paying attention to him as she sat down at the head of the table.

"Greetings." The princess spoke. "I don't believe we've met before. What's your name?"

Her gaze swept over Tylo.

"Name's Tylo. A pleasure. This is Miyu. Deputy and combat engineer."

The princess closed her eyes in acknowledgment.

"I see. I am Kaguya, ex-princess of the Lunar Capital actually. Feel free to call me by name. I have no need for formalities."

"Of course… Princess Kaguya." Tylo said.

Eirin rolled her eyes while Kaguya merely giggled slightly. Now, where have I heard that name before? He thought to himself. An old Japanese folklore? Coincidence perhaps… Tylo continued.

"So, I heard you wished to speak with us about something?"

"Yes. That's right." Kaguya coughed quietly, clearing her throat slightly.

"I hear you're also an alien." The princess' eyes suddenly began gleaming as she dropped the entire 'Princess' attitude. "Tell me more about yourselves!"

Eirin's eyes widened suddenly and then she placed her face in her palms. Tylo shrugged his shoulders. It was a genuine question after all. One that he may choose not to answer… but answered anyways. Basic courtesy.

"Hmm..." Tylo began as he placed his fingers on his chin. "I'm a human from Sirrea."

"Where's that?" Kaguya asked, tilting her head slightly.

"In the Small Magellanic Cloud."

"Huh?"

"Never mind. Just know that I'm not from this place and you should be good. Put simply, we're outsiders." Tylo gestured towards Miyu.

"What a way to avoid the question." Kaguya puffed up her cheeks. "How rude."

"I'm pretty sure that there are more important issues to discuss first… Right Doctor Yagokoro?"

The doctor shrugged her shoulders.

"I suppose so… I do believe Mr Tylo has something important to say."

Kaguya pouted and tried to act cute. Tylo ignored her and said.

"Yes, I do so. I have already informed the doctor on the on going issues and she said you'd be most welcome to hear me out."

"Oh fine ~!" Kaguya said with a huff.

I would not call that a… Behavior of a princess. Tylo thought to himself. Doesn't matter. He assured himself. Not like he was going to be associated with her or anything.

With a deep breath and two, he began his explanation of the situation… again. His explanation was not as lengthy as his previous one. Mostly because he cut the scientific theory bits and told Kaguya that 'Eirin will explain in due time.' Of course, the princess was not happy but she was not in the mood to make any fuss.

"Got all of that?" Tylo said, nearly gasping for breath… OK, not really but you get the idea.

Eirin nodded her head instinctively. Of course, she had heard all that the night before. Kaguya, on the other hand, merely tilted her head left and right in confusion.

"Spores?" She asked. "You mean those things from mushrooms?"

Tylo shook his head. He almost placed his palm across his forehead but restrained himself at the last moment.

"No. They are aliens that want to conquer the galaxy or your outer worlds."

"Huh. Are they friendly?"

"Obviously not."

"That sucks I guess."

* * *

Tylo remained silent and did not reply. Eirin and Kaguya could not bring up another topic of discussion and thus did not speak as well. A few minutes passed before the sliding door opened. Reisen appeared carrying a tray with a rather large plate and two bowls. The rabbit girl set the tray on the center of the table with a soft clatter. In the bowl was plain white rice decorated with a leaf of Rosemary. The plate had a large fish, native to Cela, broiled in a brown gravy and the last bowl contained small, white doughy puffs which Tylo assumed were desserts. Reisen then eyed the table briefly before taking her seat on the only available seat, next to Tylo.

"Ah, thanks Reisen." Eirin said. "Now then, let's eat."

Kaguya nodded and without a word, began serving herself, placing the rice and fish into her own bowl, scooping a massive amount of food substances for a person of her proportion. Tylo and Miyu knew much better than to judge.

Miyu looked at the food closely. She spooned herself a small serving and placed her finger into the food. She turned off her translator and had her RIG run a chemical analysis on the food. Eirin raised her eyebrow at the scene while Kaguya on the other hand did not bat an eyelid. In fact, she probably did not even notice it at all.

"Clear." Miyu said in Latin before turning her translator back on. "Thanks for the food Doctor and Princess." Miyu then unfolded the bottom portion of her helmet and began to eat.

"Not bad." She commented. "Although the food is a little too sweet for my taste, I'd say it'll get a passing score."

Reisen smiled and nodded her head. Obviously she was the cook behind the meal, Tylo noted. Tylo took a helping for himself. One part rice and one part fish. Tylo mixed the two parts together and after unfolding his helmet, took a small and arguably timid bite.

"What she said." Tylo said. Reisen, upon hearing this beamed even wider.

"So…" Kaguya began. "What is the Small Magellanic Cloud?"

"That again princess? But I… Oh well. Never mind." Eirin began to protest but conceded in the end.

Kaguya smiled. She faced Tylo and spoke. "So, what is it?."

"OK. Give me a moment." Tylo said as he pressed a few buttons on his RIG. After a bit of fiddling, Tylo cast a holographic projection of the Local Galactic Group. He zoomed in onto the Milky Way.

"This is Earth." Tylo said as he pointed at a random location on the Orion Arm.

"This is the Small Magellanic Cloud." The holographic projection shifted left and stopped at a tiny cluster of stars next to a comparatively larger cluster of stars which was the Large Magellanic Cloud.

"Now this," Tylo paused. "Is Sirrea." The projection zeroed in onto a seemingly random location in the cluster of stars.

"And this, is where we are. Cela." The holographic projection ended its cosmic tour on a small G3V yellow dwarf star that was separated from Sirrea by 200 – 1000 light years with a dense supernovae remnant nebula in between the vast space.

"Ooooh!" Kaguya eyed the holographic projection with great interest. "Where did you learn to cast magic like that? In the entirety of my long life, I've never seen something like this before! Tell me!"

Kaguya almost nearly began hopping like the rabbits that co-existed among her. Eirin tried to calm the princess down but to no avail. Tylo sighed.

"Yeah. Ever since I got here, I get that question a lot. No, that's not magic. And I learnt how to use this..." Tylo pointed to the RIG hardware mounted along his spine. "When I was four years old. Ellenove, capital of Sirrea."

"Really?!" Kaguya began. "Can you teach me Mr Tylo?"

"No."

"Awww ~! Why not?"

"First things first, I only have two RIGs here. One on me and the other on my deputy. Two, even if I did have another RIG, you wouldn't be able to use it because these devices are hard-coded to be operated only by those with 'UAG', 'UAA' and 'TGA' stop codons in their RNA… Which are unique to humans. Unfortunately for you… Go figure."

"Huh." Kaguya looked slightly agitated. Tylo almost felt he hit a nerve with the hinting that, humans were superior to Lunarians as only the former can use the special device or something along those lines.

"Perhaps..." Kaguya began again, dragging out her words for an exaggerated effect. "Maybe Miss Miyu can make one for me."

"Huh? Princess Kaguya?!" Eirin tried to protest but a quick gesture from her silenced the doctor immediately.

"What?" Miyu stuttered. "Do I look like an engineer to y… Oh wait..." Her voiced trailed off.

"She says no." Tylo interjected.

"Hmph! Fine then. I'll just stick with my own 'Kappa' computers. I'm sure they are better built then those things."

"Believe what you want..." Tylo put down his pair of chopsticks. An empty bowl rested in front of him. Gensokyo has computers? Interesting.

"I got to go." He said as he stood up and gestured for Miyu to follow.

"Again," Tylo began as he walked towards the nearest sliding door. "Thank you both for your hospitality. Princess Kaguya, I know we barely met but I beg your understanding yeah?"

"Wait!" Eirin stopped Tylo before he could open the sliding door. "Could you brief us on what to expect during your investigations? You said you needed help, our help, both the Princess' and mine. So..."

"We will be back for medical supplies or attention depending on how severe our injuries are. Just in case… Oh yes, grow lot's of algae. Any algae would do. As long as it is green."

"Algae? Whatever for?"

"Biofoam… and nutrition paste."

"Nutrition… Uh huh..."

"If there's nothing else, I would get going now. I am going to be very busy today so please excuse me."

"One last thing." Kaguya said, while still seated in her chair. "Reisen will be coming along with you."

"What?!" Tylo, Miyu and Reisen all said at the same time.

"Yup. You heard that right. I think Reisen could use some exercise. She has been staying at Eientei for too long doing nothing but medicine runs." Kaguya laughed lightly.

"But master ~!" Reisen began, trying to protest.

"No buts. Please follow them. I think it would do you wonders."

Reisen's ears flopped downwards in defeat as she whined.

"It will be done master..." Reisen said.

Tylo looked at Reisen, Miyu and then at Kaguya.

"What can she do?" Tylo asked.

"Oh, many things." Kaguya said as a rather perverted grin. "She was a soldier before you know. She can fight, she can assist you and cook your dinner. Maybe… she might even..."

"Princess Kaguya!" Eirin said, cutting Kaguya's sentence short.

"You doctors are such a killjoy sometimes." The princess retorted.

Tylo shrugged his shoulders for the nth time that morning.

"Fine by me. Reisen was it?"

Reisen nodded her head.

"You need time to pack your things?"

"Y-Yeah. I'll go do it now." She said as she backed away slightly and bowed before leaving the room all together.

"I'll be waiting outside sir." Miyu, who was quiet all that while suddenly spoke. Tylo nodded in acknowledgment. Miyu left the room without another word.

Looking around for a moment thinking. Tylo walked back over to his seat and sat down again.

"Princess Kaguya. That was pretty intelligent on your part." Tylo commented.

"Fufu~ I was that easily read? I see not all humans are stupid after all." Kaguya said, covering her mouth in laughter.

"Buying time so that I may stay longer and thus have no excuse not to answer your questions. Very clever."

"Yes. Indeed. Now, tell me about this RIG."

Tylo rolled his eyes.

"Fine. First thing's first, give me your hand."

"Huh? Ouch! What the f..."

A thin red line appeared the tip of Kaguya's pinkie. In shock and mouth agape, the princess withdrew her hand as quickly as she brought it forwards. A single drop of blood lay on the tanto edge of Tylo's sword.

"Voice command, analyze blood sample."

"Hey!" Kaguya shouted. "What was that for?"

"You want to use the RIG right? I'm taking your DNA. And in any case, that was a clean cut. Stick the two edges of your skin together and it will be fine."

"That stung~!"

Tylo remained silent. He stared at the holographic screen of his RIG. The animated NanoTec logo danced around the screen. Finally, the logo stopped and the AI announced.

"*DNA unknown. Unable to grant excess. *"

Tylo began overriding the RIG systems.

"*Excess granted. T = 300s *"

Kaguya could not understand the Latin being spoken by the AI of course, so she just glared at Tylo with her pair of dark brown eyes. Tylo tapped the 'Y' button and granted Kaguya five minutes of surface access to the RIG. Tylo took the little holographic projector off his shoulder and handed it to the sulking princess.

"Here you go." Tylo said with a monotone.

Kaguya's eyes lit up and she grabbed the device with both hands. The little scratch on her finger was gone. Tylo noted this and had the data recorded in his RIG.

"I'll forgive you for that." Kaguya said. "Now… How do I work this thing?"

"You want a simple answer or a complex answer?"

"The full thing."

"OK." Tylo took a deep breath. "First, ensure that the device's temperature is within -160 to 400 degrees Celsius. No biggie. Then, ensure that your index finger is not septic and is dust free… Whoops, that's for the scientist's RIG. My bad. Right where was I…"

Before Tylo could continue, Kaguya was already tapping buttons on Tylo's portable RIG. She was scrolling left and right, pressing random buttons with both of her hands.

"What language is this?" Kaguya asked, pointing to the Germanic alphabet "I can't read it. Translator! Doc! Come on man! Medic!"

"Oh please..." Eirin groaned. "Please do not talk like that in front of strangers princess..."

"This says settings." Tylo said as he walked over to Kaguya's side and pointed at a gearbox icon. "And these are my messages. You can't open them. I've set it to private." Tylo continued as he pointed to an envelope icon.

"Are you sure you even can speak that language?" Kaguya asked suspiciously. "Because nobody knows a language I don't."

Lunarians being over confident again. Tylo thought to himself. He composed himself, turned his translator off and said.

 _"_ _Latin sugit tua. Benigne computatrum sustentationem vocat ad redintegro vestri forsit. Si haec non mea interprete uti nescis."_

Kaguya blinked her eyes multiple times. Tylo turned his translator back on as Kaguya opened her mouth to speak.

"W-What?" Kaguya said rather surprised.

"That was Latin." Tylo said as he scratched the back of his head. "Or at least, poorly phrased Latin. I was never good with that language."

"W-What?" Kaguya said again.

"I think you broke her..." Eirin deadpanned.

Reisen suddenly appeared again from the door she left from. This time, she was in a business suit covered with camo patterns and a longer skirt. She was carrying a rather large and bulky field pack that seemed almost too big for her size. She saluted and said.

"Pvt. Reisen reporting for duty sir!"

Tylo was taken aback slightly by this sudden change in personality. Tylo, purely on instinct, brought his left index and middle finger over his left eyebrow to salute back. A smile slowly crept onto Reisen's face and before everyone knew it, she was on the floor laughing.

"Ha ha ha~! What kind of salute is that?! Ha Ha~..."

Eirin sighed. "PTSD. Get's the rabbits really good sometimes."

"Err… Doc?" Tylo began. "I don't think that's how PTSD works."

"Whatever. Probably some other personality thing then." Eirin waved her hand dismissively. She was obviously annoyed already.

Kaguya suddenly jumped back in shock. "What the hell?! I've been denied access to this rigged thing!"

Language unbecoming of a princess… Tylo thought to himself.

"Alright." He said with a smirk. "Your trail period is up. Please return the RIG to me."

"Awww~!" Kaguya pouted. She reluctantly handed the little projector back to Tylo to which he mounted back on his shoulder.

"Thank you. And now… I must be going." Tylo said as he waved his hand slowly.

He stopped short of the door and turned his head.

"And don't worry. I'll be back… Come on Reisen. Let's go."

The rabbit girl saluted again and began tailing Tylo. The latter then looked out of the door and stared into the endless hallways.

"Err… I might need a guide out." Tylo said.

"Just follow me sir." Reisen said. "I know this place like the back of my hand."

"Careful with Reisen!" Eirin called out from behind. "She has PTSD! Do not, and I mean DO NOT expose her to excessively loud or bright noises or flashes respectively!"

"Duly noted." Tylo said as he left the room.

"And remember you owe me 20 000 Yen!" Eirin reminded.

* * *

The two winded through the long and vast hallways of Eientei. As Tylo walked behind Reisen, he tapped a few buttons on his RIG and had it compile all the information he had gathered. Kaguya's genetic makeup was… Exotic to say the least. Her DNA had arrangements never seen before in any carbon based life form. As it stood, there was not much Tylo could do with the data. He did not even know what gene controlled what. Perhaps, Kaguya's extremely rapid regeneration abilities as demonstrated earlier was attributed due to the strange arrangement of nitrogenous bases. Likely at least but may not be all together.

After a few minutes, Tylo and Reisen found themselves by the lobby of the building.

"Phew. That took long enough." Tylo commented. "Why on earth did you people build a structure so confusing?"

"I don't know sir." Reisen said. "I just live here."

"And also, if you don't mind, could you drop the 'sir' please?"

"Yes ma'am." Reisen replied with a smile.

Tylo and Reisen proceeded through the now repaired genkan of the building. Tylo was silent and Reisen wore a 'shit-eating grin' on her face. She looked satisfied with herself, that's for certain. Miyu was already standing out in the courtyard and the rabbits, or rather humanoid rabbits around her were trying their best not to pay to much attention to Miyu who looked rather inclined to kill every single one of them right there and then.

"That was quick." Miyu suddenly turned towards Tylo. "I only just got out here. Damn place is confusing as hell!"

"Oh, you'd be surprised..." Tylo let his voice trail off.

"Right." Miyu began. "So, are we supposed to wait for… Remus?"

"Never heard of a Remus around here." Reisen idly said.

Suddenly, all the rabbit people around the three dispersed like livestock. A blur of red and white was seen briefly before the genkan of Eientei exploded. Wooden splinters flew all over the place, tearing up the ground and any nearby bamboo trees. Reisen's jaw dropped. She tried to say something but all that came out from her mouth was a squeak.

Tylo walked back over to the mansion and opened the front sliding door.

"Why hello again red-white. I suppose you are looking for us?"

"Indeed." Reimu said nonchalantly as she dusted herself off. "Shall we?"

"Yeah. Let's go."

Tylo gestured for Reisen and Miyu to follow. Reimu walked out of the wrecked genkan and took a place next to Miyu.

"Rendezvous at the far bank of that giant lake thingy. Near a crashed pod yeah?"

"Yeah, yeah." Reimu said as she began hovering.

"Alright." Tylo said as he cracked his knuckles. "Let's fly."

* * *

Reimu took off and then Reisen followed effortlessly. How did they do that anyways? Tylo let the question slip into his head. He crouched in preparation and with all his might, he leapt into the air.

"Hnghh~!" Tylo landed on his face, his jetpack spluttered and shut down.

"Ah, yes of course. I needed to refuel..." Tylo said to himself in embarrassment.

He looked up into the sky and Reimu was long gone. Reisen, apparently sensing her missing companions, turned around and flew back.

"What's wrong?" She asked. "I thought you could fly?"

"Yes, but I'm out of fuel."

Reisen tilted her head slightly. Miyu suddenly piped up.

"Come on, we don't have all day. There are atmospheric condensers in the jetpack. Use those."

Tylo nodded. He gestured to Reisen.

"Alright. Let's go. Sorry."

"Oh, err, no need to apologies ma'a… I mean Mr Tylo."

"That's fine. We're burning daylight. Let's go."

"Yes!"

The building of Eientei receded behind the dense bamboo foliage, eventually obscuring the entire building. Now, around the three was just bamboo stretching into the distance in all directions, towering high into the sky. A small, dilapidated dirt path was the only thing that helped them differentiate left from right.

"How long more Reisen?" Tylo inquired. "It feels like we are getting nowhere."

"Just a bit more. I'm very familiar with this path."

Tylo shrugged his shoulders. I suppose I have to believe her. He thought. There's no helping it.

The walk continued. Thin rays of sunlight seethed through the gaps in the bamboo spires, illuminating the forest dimly. Tylo did not bother to take in his scenery. More importantly, he was staring at the road in front of him, with the very occasional glance at his infra-red tracking.

There was a small blip. A tiny one on Tylo's infra-red scanning, so small one could pass it off as an error. Tylo's eyes narrowed at the undergrowth in front of him. Reisen was still walking ahead and Miyu following closely after. They did not seem aware.

Suddenly, Tylo began sprinting and grabbed Reisen's shoulders.

"Kyah!" she screamed as Tylo spun her around and threw her behind a nearby rock. Her large field pack landed with a thud next to her. A laser shot forth from that small blip and clipped Tylo's armor. The graphene plating immediately ablated, ejecting toxic carbon monoxide in the process.

"Take cover! Now!" Tylo yelled, as he made himself discrete behind a nearby bamboo tree.

"Ahhh~! What's going on?!" Reisen yelled.

"An ambush." Miyu said calmly as she drew her rifle. "Scanning target now."

"What should we do?!" Reisen screamed. "They're using lethal force!"

An M2 Handgun landed on Reisen's lap.

"Then we use lethal force back." Tylo said. "Miyu, done yet?"

"Yes sir. Spore Assault Drone. Heavy Armor class."

Tylo peeked his head from behind the tree before immediately reeling it back as a laser struck the bamboo along its side, scorching the area completely.

"Reisen!" Tylo yelled. "You were a soldier before right?"

She nodded her head feverishly.

"Good. The pistol is loaded. You know what to do. Follow my orders."

"But..." She stammered, still huddled behind the rock. "I don't want to ki..."

"It's you or them. My teacher told me that before."

Reisen nodded her head again.

"Yes..."

Another laser shot cut the bamboo stalk Tylo was hiding behind into two. He ducked just in time to avoid having his head clipped by the falling plant. Tylo did a dive roll and hid himself behind another stalk.

"Status update." Miyu said. "Enemy drone's weapons charge in four seconds. Energy capacity unknown..."

Miyu ducked to avoid a laser shot above her as she changed cover. Tylo fired a few port shots at the drone with null effect. It's armor deflected all the projectiles. He ducked back into cover as a laser clipped his upper right shoulder. It felt as though he was pressing his shoulder to a slab of hot slate.

"Damn!" Tylo swore to himself. "Reisen! Where are you?"

He looked around but Reisen was missing. She was no longer hiding behind that rock and the only sign of her was the field pack that still lay behind the rock. Miyu made a dash towards the drone, firing as she went before dodging to the left suddenly to throw off the drone's aim. It did not and Miyu found herself with a second degree burn along her abdomen.

"Tch! Status update, enemy weapon is a 1000GHz X-ray laser. Caution is advised."

"Noted." Tylo said as he fired a carefully aimed shot at the drone's head. Sparks flew off the rounded cranium of the drone. A penetration was achieved. The drone stumbled but regained its footing as quickly as it lost it. Tylo avoided another close shot from the laser.

"Where are you Rei..." Tylo did not finish his sentence.

Reisen suddenly burst out from the bamboo leaves from above and was now flying downwards towards the Spore drone.

"Illusion Bullet 'Illusion Parallax (Bluff Barrage)'!" She yelled as bright red danmaku bullets began erupting from her fingers. The barrage struck the drone like a hailstorm but did nothing of visible effect. Tylo suddenly dropped his gun and knelt on the ground. His head pounded furiously and he could barely keep himself on his feet. He did not know what was happening to Miyu. He was more concerned about his own afflictions first.

The drone pointed its gun upwards and pulled the trigger.

"Kyaaaaahhh!" Reiesn screamed as the laser bent around her, missing her torso entirely. The laser instead clipped her left hand, searing her pinkie and ring finger off completely. Reisen tumbled onto the Spore drone, knocking it down with a clang.

"Ah...Ah~..." Reisen whimpered, staring at her destroyed fingers. She looked up at the drone which was getting up and slowly aiming its rifle at Reisen. She gripped the pistol in her other hand.

"G-Go away! Go away!" she yelled, pointing the pistol at the drone and unloading every single bullet in the magazine.

The bullets shattered harmlessly along the skull of the drone. Hollow point rounds were never meant for piercing armor. The M2 finally clicked harmlessly, beeping and signaling that it had run out of ammunition.

The pistol fell from Reisen's hands. Tylo felt his headache disappear entirely. He opened one eye and looked out of cover. The Spore drone stood above Reisen with its gun ready. Three seconds.

Acting solely on instinct, Tylo began running, picking up his rifle from the ground as he went. Two seconds. Tylo jumped off from the ground, aiming himself in between the drone and Reisen. He raised his rifle and looked through the scope. One second. He had the drone in his sights. Time seemed to slow down as he inched closer to the target with his finger poised on the trigger. He could not miss. Or another civilian's blood would be on his hands. Zero.

Tylo pulled the trigger. He closed his eyes in resolution. Too late. Even if he did hit, he thought to himself, well… The bullet was never faster than the laser. Tylo opened his eyes again and faced a ball of fire. The Spore drone had almost literally burst into a ball of fire and it's disembowel carcass was now spiraling across the ground.

* * *

That wasn't mine. Tylo knew immediately. No armor piercing shell would explode like that. He landed on his head just to the right of Reisen, after which he did a roll and flung himself over her through momentum alone. A side flip was accomplished and Tylo was now facing in the opposite direction.

"Who's there!" He yelled into the distance. Silence… for a brief moment.

"Is that how you thank someone who just saved your ass?" came the reply. Feminine no doubt but whom ever it was spoke like a male.

Miyu reappeared from her cover position and took another by a tree behind Tylo. The latter scanned the area. One signature, approaching slowly with his, or her hands in the former's pocket. Tylo squatted down and placed two fingers on Reisen's neck. Pulse present. Good.

A silhouette emerged from the dense bamboo growths. A woman… Or Lolite look-alike per say. She had waist length white hair, tied or decorated with red and white charms that equally covered her baggy pants. Her orange-red eyes stared almost literally like an arrogant phoenix, at Tylo with her smirk completing the expression.

Tylo lowered his rifle. "A civilian. What are you doing here?"

The girl's smirk grew even wider. "Isn't that the question I should be asking you? I couldn't avoid the noise you were making you know."

"I can't deny that. Do you need anything else?"

"Not even a word of thank you… Hmm… I couldn't have expected anything more from you outsiders anyways."

Tylo made a glance towards Reisen. She was unconscious. Not much use anymore…

The girl seemed to follow Tylo's gaze, even through his visor.

"Isn't that one of Kaguya's playthings?" she scowled. "Outsiders are getting more and more interesting these days. What's your name?"

"Tylo. And you are?"

The girl laughed lightly. "Call me Mokou. I'm not good with last names so we will stick with that. Now, what are you doing here?"

"Quick, sharp and straight to the point eh? Good. That's none of your business unless you're willing to help."

"Look here mister." Mokou's face soured. "I ask a question, you answer it."

"I am not obliged to." Tylo challenged. "One, information is classified. How do I know you are not assisting my enemy? Two, you are not human. Three, who do you think you are?"

Mokou's face twisted up in anger. Lolites are indeed quick to anger Tylo noted. She also looks similar to Kaguya and even knows the latter. How far can I push the situation? Tylo bent down and picked the M2 Pistol off the ground. He dropped the empty magazine and loaded it with another loaded with ballistic capped rounds. Mokou was not phased. Either she had no idea what a gun was or she was simply not afraid.

"There's a fine line between ignoring and being disrespectful. Such ungratefulness would not go unpunished in… Gensokyo. This is your last chance. What are you doing here and why?"

"Classified information." replied Tylo calmly. "You just reinforced my first assumption."

The girl's face finally settled with a smile. "Fine then. If you want to be like that… Then you shall suffer the consequences." Mokou cracked her knuckles and assumed a fighting stance. "Flame Sign!" She began. "'Phoenix's Super-High-Tem..."

Mokou suddenly found herself on one knee. Her front most kneecap had been blown open. Blood and bone fragments were seen splattered across the forest floor along with a thin trail of smoke left Tylo's pistol barrel.

"W-Wha… I see. You're not following the spell card rules. That means I…"

Mokou's front most leg flew clean off. A second round had blown the entire limb off and she fell to the floor but quickly righted herself with her hands. Another round flew into Mokou's upper torso.

"Hngh!" she gasped as her lungs began deflating.

Tylo lowered his pistol and holstered it. So much for that. He thought. Catching another opponent off guard... Didn't someone say something against it a day ago? Old habits die hard. Tylo walked up to the body of Mokou and jumped back suddenly, avoiding a swift swipe at his legs. The fire/plasma around Mokou's arm dissipated. Lolites are strange. Tylo thought or rather, reaffirmed. They are capable of what humans deem as magic, biologically.

Mokou mouthed a few words but no comprehensive sound escaped her lips. Just wheezing and gasping was heard. Tylo raised an eyebrow.

"I'm immortal, you can't kill me, you say… Huh? I'll recover?" Tylo nodded. "Even you people never know when to call it quits. I can't blame you. I was taught to do the same."

Mokou mouthed another few words.

"Yeah, I heard you the first time. You'll recover huh?" Tylo raised his rifle at Mokou's head. "Recover this."

* * *

Mokou's upper cranium was blown off. Bits of skull and brain were scattered about the local area like a nuclear device would radioactive fallout. Tylo peeled a piece of flesh off the barrel of his gun and threw it on the floor.

"Remind me to use FMJs the next time I shoot someone point blank." Tylo said, directed at nobody in particular.

"Miyu?" Tylo continued. The former emerged from her cover. "A quick combat report."

"Yes sir. Enemy Spore Drone and hostile Lolite terminated. Enemy Spore drone heavily armored and impervious to kinetic rounds. Reisen's bolts of light… danmaku, if you will, was able to stun the drone to a limited extent. I suspected the danmaku was comprised of negatively charged ions. The Lolite on the other hand has a DNA makeup similar to that of Kaguya. Other than that, nothing particularly interesting about her."

Tylo nodded. "Alright, let's go. Before more of them show up."

* * *

Tylo bent over and slung the unconscious Reisen across his shoulder. The two soldiers retraced their steps back to the dirt path and as Tylo bent over to pick up Reisen's field pack, he heard a small laughter from the path towards Eientei.

"Fufufu ~ Well that was rather underwhelming." the voice said.

"Princess Kaguya? Tylo turned. The long skirt and pink blouse confirmed it.

"I see you've met Mokou." She said with a smile. "Thanks for doing me a favor, albeit a very temporary one."

"You're welcome." Tylo said. "Not a big fan of hers I see."

"Indeed. But she'll get better."

"I doubt anyone could survive having their face blown open like that." Tylo gestured in Mokou's general direction.

"Oh, believe me when I say she will. And, oh she is going to be mad at you… You attacked her without waring right?"

Tylo contemplated his answer for a short while.

"Yes. That's correct."

The princess laughed again. "Fufufu ~ No wonder she went down without much of a fight. When she and I fight… How should I put it… Complete and indiscriminate devastation."

You don't look much like a fighter to me. Tylo thought. But alas Cela, Gensokyo… Go figure.

"Tell me, what can she do?" Tylo decided to inquire.

"Quite a bit… Quite a bit." Kaguya said while nodding her head slightly in emphasis. "You've probably bit off more than you could chew I'd say the least."

Tylo remained silent. Miyu began looking around, for reasons unknown to Tylo. He ignored her.

"Oh, but, if you do ever meet her again..." Kaguya began frowning. "Run."

"Duly noted." said Tylo. "You'd better be careful too. There are drones in the area. Spore drones."

"Understood." Kaguya said. "Now, I guess I'll be going now. I heard all the noise and decided to go have a look. I must say, I am genuinely impressed with you and your assistant's capabilities. Don't disappoint me."

With that, Kaguya began walking away, disappearing into the gloom. What is she even expecting of us anyways? He thought to himself. Tylo waited before he could not see Kaguya anymore, then he turned to Miyu.

"First thing when we get back to the pod, go and make us some silencers."

Miyu nodded.

"Second thing… What are you testing now Miyu?"

Miyu responded by tapping her finger along the side of her helmet. She twirled her hand once and cast her finger horizontally and vertically.

"Psionic blockers and perception filters?"

Miyu nodded and gave Tylo a thumbs up. "Spot on." She said. "I'd figured that many, many of the inhabitants in Gensokyo, Cela are very psionicly aligned. Many of their abilities pivot around the usage of this theoretical ability, ESP more specifically."

"Good thinking. No wonder the princess didn't see 'her plaything' slung on my shoulder." Tylo replied. "We need to have these installed quickly. Better safe than sorry."

Miyu nodded.

"Biofoam OK?" Tylo asked.

"All green." Miyu replied.

"Good. Then you're fine. Let's patch this rabbit girl up and let's go."

* * *

Tylo turned and began walking down the path with Reisen slung head first down his back and her field pack in his right hand. Her injured hand dangled limply by Tylo's side and Miyu followed closely behind to apply first aid to Reisen's hand.

Psionic perception blockers. Invented by NanoTec a mere month before the current date. They were based upon a highly hypothetical 'mental power' theorem which arguably was false. Apparently not. These devices can alter the target's ESP brainwaves in such a way that one may perceive something extraordinary as something very ordinary, put in layman's terms.

By the time Tylo had finished his mental lecture on Psionic blockers, Miyu had finished treating Reisen's injury.

"Hmm… Major third degree burns covering 60% of her hands, her pinkie and ring finger seared completely off and bones reduced to carbon. Nothing a little biofoam can't heal." Miyu commented, proud with her handiwork; Reisen's condition hand being embalmed like a mummy.

"So, you're telling me that she'll burn straight through recovery?"

Pin drop silence. The crickets chirped in the background. Miyu was not amused.

"Fine, fine. Please don't shoot me." Tylo said jokingly as he put his two hands in the air, nearly dropping Reisen in the process.

"And that, my friend is what happens when you don't follow orders." Tylo whispered, directing his words at Reisen who couldn't hear him.

* * *

After another five minutes of walking, the three emerged from the bamboo forests and out into the bright late morning sun. In the distance, Tylo could barely see the spire of the Scarlet Devil Mansion through the RIG zoom functions and the peak of a tall impeding mountain further in the distance, east of the former structure. He drew some imaginary lines across the horizon and finally rested his pointed finger a few degrees from the spire of the Mansion.

"Pod's there. Atmospheric condensers have filled up approximately 40% of fuel requirements and should be enough to get there if we glide."

Tylo scanned the sky. A small blip among the clouds about half way to the soldiers' destination. That was obviously Reimu. Whomever else that may be… Well, who else could it be?

"OK, Miyu. Get ready the jetpacks. We take off in five… four..."

Reisen opened her eyes slowly. The first thing she saw was Tylo's charging jetpack and the first thing she heard was Tylo speaking.

"Two… One… Go!"

"W-Wait! Wait! Don… Ahhh~!"

Reisen tried to protest to no avail. All three of them were blasted into the air with a great deal of acceleration upwards. Reisen felt her head spin and her vision darken. She felt all of her blood rush from her head to her feet and like a sleep spell, she found herself unconscious again.

"You hear something?" Tylo asked through the short range radio.

"Nope. Not at all." Miyu replied.

* * *

Cruising at sub-sonic velocities, Tylo and Miyu, together with the unconscious Reisen, caught up with Reimu. She was flying idly and twirling her miko stick in her fingers. Tylo tapped her on the shoulder.

"Woa&%#$ &!" Reimu suddenly lost balance and began spiraling downwards.

"Damn." Tylo mumbled to himself.

Miyu began knocking her helmet with the palm of her hand. "Work you stupid translator." she cursed.

Eventually Reimu came flying back up to Tylo's altitude and unsuccessfully smacked him across the helmet with her miko stick.

"Knock next time!" she yelled. "Knock!"

"I did..." Tylo began before getting smacked across the other side of his helmet.

"Shut up." Reimu huffed, apparently oblivious to the three's absence.

"First question Ms Reimu." Tylo said. "Does your miko stick have an official naming or term of reference? Second ques..."

Whap! The stick rebounded off Tylo's helmet… Again.

"It's a gohei." Reimu snapped.

"Right." Tylo said. He opened his mouth to speak but Reimu's glare forced him to hold his tongue.

Miyu flew over and tapped Reimu on the shoulder. The same thing happened and Miyu was struck across the face by the gohei.

"I said stop that!" Reimu near-shouted in agitation.

Miyu pulled out the red and blue crystals dropped from the dying fairies and fluffs.

"Any idea what these are? I got them off the dead bodies of the local fauna."

Reimu snatched the crystals out of Miyu's hands and held them in her own palm.

"Oh these? They are 'Point' and 'Strength' crystals." Reimu said as a matter of factly before Reimu assimilated the crystals into her body. Tylo and Miyu just stared at the scene.

"What?" Reimu asked as though absorbing crystals into one's own body was something one saw everyday.

"What?" Tylo responded.

"Ugh… You people… Really." Reimu said. "By the way, have you all found a way to switch over to the spell card rules yet?"

"Nope."

"You had one job..." Reimu deadpanned.

"Well, maybe you and I can work something out." Tylo said.

"We'll see. Right now… Ugh, never mind." Reimu ended the conversation.

Tylo turned his translator off.

"I see the psionic blockers deceived the shrine maiden as well."

"Yes. I'd say it did."

"She didn't even ask about Reisen."

"I know."

Tylo checked to see if Reisen was awake yet. Unconscious. There was a pulse and breathing but she was asleep, or knocked out. Either one of the two.

"Turn the psionic blocker off Miyu." Tylo said. "Let me see something."

"Acknowledged."

Tylo tapped Reimu on the shoulders. This time, the shrine maiden pulled a long face and groaned.

"What do yo… What the hell did you do to her?"

"She was injured because someone decided to leave without us."

"Huh? I was pretty sure she was behind me all this while."

"Well, what do you know?"

Reimu tilted her head in confusion. Tylo gave Miyu a thumbs up.

"Are you sure you didn't knock her out? You seem awfully fishy."

"Why would I if it would result in extra work for me? And didn't I already say..."

"Are you a pervert?"

"Where did that come from?" Tylo tried to put his hands in front of him in objection but failed as he was still carrying Reisen and her bag.

* * *

Below the group was now the Misty Lake. The Scarlet Devil Mansion stood elegantly, with a hole in its roof, by the bank of the lake. Little flashes of light appeared over the surface of the lake, probably danmaku battles, at irregular intervals. At the opposite bank of the lake, was the crashed escape pod, gleaming in the sun.

Tylo noted three figures standing idly around the pod, two of them clad in dark blue and the other wearing a large black cap. Moho, Skye and Marisa were all already there. They did not notice them yet.

"Testing, testing..." Tylo turned on his long range radio set and receiver. Reisen's ears twitched.

"Calling, 01-04. Message from 01-01. Inbound for your position, eta 60s, low speed."

Static. Nothing came through, not with Gensokyo's through magnetic flux coverage. Reisen's ears twitched again.

"Yes… We… Can… See… You..." Reisen unconsciously mumbled, her ears twitching still.

Tylo turned and saw Reisen's eyes open slightly. She continued mumbling.

"From… Mo...Ho… Huh?"

Reisen's eyes now shot open. She lifted her head and looked around. Suddenly, she screamed.

"Kyah! It's going to kill us! It's… Wait..."

Reisen then looked up at Tylo who was still carrying her. He waved his hand in front of her face.

"Good morning. I hope you slept well. Can you fly yourself?"

Reisen nodded and slowly peeled herself off Tylo's shoulder. She looked at her bandaged hand and stared in confusion.

"Didn't I just..."

"You did. It should be better now but keep the bandage on." Tylo said. "Biofoam does you wonders."

Reisen nodded again. She dropped in altitude slightly but brought herself up back to Tylo's level.

"What can your ears do?" Tylo asked and received a glare from Reimu.

If looks could kill, Tylo would have had just been vaporized by a high yield fusion boosted nuclear device.

Reisen's face began flushing red and she placed both her hands on her cheek.

"No, what I meant is that, do you have any special abilities that you use your ears for. Like, can you detect radio waves or something of the such?"

Reisen calmed herself down.

"Err… Yeah, I guess. I can receive… Waves. My ears can detect them, even over long distances. And I..."

"Good enough." Tylo interrupted her. "I'm sure I will find that ability of yours very useful."

Reisen tilted her head. Now, the group of four were above the crashed escape pod with an angle of depression of about 20 degrees. Tylo brought both of his arms to his side and retraced the ailerons of his jetpack.

"Right." He said. "Onwards!"

Tylo then began dipping and he slid into a nice free fall trajectory. Miyu followed closely. Reimu and Reisen both stared blankly at the scene, shrugged their shoulders and followed after. The image of Moho, Skye and the waving Marisa grew larger and larger as Tylo drew nearer to his landing site.

"Well… Off to a great start today." Tylo mumbled to himself.

He flipped onto his back and gestured to Miyu.

"Let's give our friends are good morning yeah? Today's gonna be a big day." Tylo said as he slowed himself for landing.

 **To be continued.**


	8. Leaving the Forest of Magic

**Das Author's Note: Hello. Thanks for sticking around. I spent a long time getting this chapter ready. I hope it was worth the wait. I have no new reviews to adress at the the time of writing so, this author's note will be a short one. In fact, it's over already. Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

Leaving the Forest of Magic

Bang! A shot rang out in the darkness. Following that was the loud shatter of a ceramic pot. Little pieces of the orange clay were strewn all over the floor and a small hole resided in the wooden wall behind it.

"A bit high strung aren't you?" Marisa said, not lifting her head from her cup of morning tea. "What did that pot ever do to you ze?"

Skye sat straight up on the floor, smoke seeping out of the barrel of his pistol. He dropped the gun and sighed. His body was shaking and he had sweat drawing lines down his face. He shook his head and sighed again.

"Sorry..." He mumbled. "I sensed something moving there."

Out of the fragments, scurried out a beetle. It ran in zigzags before it dissapeared out of sight.

Marisa shook her head and inquired.

"Bad dream eh?"

Skye shook his head.

"Ah, I know a bad dream when I see it." Marisa said, nodding her head. "What happened?"

Skye remained silent. He placed his left hand on the side of his helmet. He shook his head again.

"Well?" Marisa pressed. She pointed out of the window. "While it may be early, we or at least I don't have all day."

It was still pitch black outside. Either it was really, really early, or the canopy of the trees in the forest simply obscured that much sunlight. A single candle was burning on the table, dimly lighting the room.

Skye nodded his head slowly. He spoke quietly.

"Headache… Give me a moment…"

Marisa waited. Outside the house, little yellow luminescent particles made themselves present, dancing around the trees like pixies.

"Bad things happened." Skye suddenly began. "You really don't want to know."

"Really?" Marisa replied with her eyebrow raised. "Could you like… elaborate or something ze?"

"OK… So, there was this giant black malicious thing. I can't really remember exactly what. It had… My commander in its grasp and was using both him and the red-white as human shields..."

"Reimu?"

"Yeah, I think that's what her name was. Sorry, not good with the names. Right, she wasn't injured but I and my commander was. Miyu, I wasn't sure. She was not there. But situation was that..." Skye paused for a moment. "What would you have done?"

"Me?" Marisa asked, pointing to herself.

"Yeah. What would you have done? The thing was shielding it's core unit with my commander and it's reactor with Reimu. What would you do?"

"Woah, woah ze! Calm down son. I'm thinkin'."

"Sorry." Skye apologized.

Marisa put her hands on her chin, deep in thought. Finally, she replied.

"I dunno. Doesn't seem solvable to me. What did you do then?"

"I think the answer is pretty obvious." Skye said with a monotone.

"Huh?"

"I shot through both your friend and mine. I dare say if that really happened, nobody was going to survive that."

"I… See." Marisa said, apparently lost for words. "Why?" she asked.

"Because that was the only thing one could conceivably do in that situation… Look, that's all I know OK?"

Marisa slowly nodded her head. Her face scowled up in displeasure. Something was aloof Marisa felt. There was something about the current ambiance that scared her but she could not put her finger on exactly what it was.

Well, at least that was a somewhat valid explanation to Skye's sudden aggression towards pots.

"Alright then…" Marisa said, trying to change the topic. "Are you hungry? You didn't eat dinner after all ze."

"A little. I can wait though."

"You'd probably would have to anyways." Marisa pointed to her kitchen counter. "You see, I just realized that I'm out of mushrooms. The last few were used to make my tea. So, I'll go out and get some more and you wait here. How's that ze?"

"I have places to be you know. I don't have as much time as you do."

"Daww..." Marisa pouted. "So, what do you suggest?"

"I have food at the pod. If at all, you are welcome to try some."

"Deal." Marisa said with a smug look. "I'm frankly interested into what you outsiders eat. Shall we?"

"OK." Skye tapped a few buttons on his RIG and Moho shot up looking very shocked. This is becoming a trend…

"What about Rumia?" Skye asked.

"Oh, she left in the middle of the night." Marisa said.

"You were awake?"

"Yeah, couldn't sleep."

"Until now?"

Marisa nodded her head. Skye then stood up and pulled Moho to his feet. He scanned the room one last time before pushing the front door open and stepping out into the forest. The creak of the door made it, yet again, evident that Gensokyo had not discovered lubricant yet.

Skye looked around at the completely alien scenery. It looked different from what he saw when he first arrived. Bioluminescent particles were floating in and out of Marisa's house as he stared. Skye was captivated by all that he saw. His RIG, in the background, was silently recording data. Marisa shook him out of his trance.

"Hello? 'Earth' to Skye?"

"Yeah, yeah." Skye replied hastily. "Right… Let's go yeah?"

"Mmhm." Marisa nodded her head and put a finger in the air. "But first, you're going to tell me what Alice told you last night."

What's up with these two? Skye pondered. Are they the kind of people to have some kind of weird kinky…

"I know what you're thinking son." Marisa said. "Your grin gives it away."

"I wearing my helmet… What are you..."

"Your aura is giving it away." Marisa corrected, interrupting Skye.

"Piss."

"So, you gonna tell me or what?"

"Quite assertive today eh Ms Marisa?" Skye commented. "Why don't we go over to Alice's place and ask her. I assume you know each other right?"

"Why don't you answer yourself? Tryin' to hide something ze?"

"One..." Skye cleared his throat. "I don't even remember what she said. It was a flurry of events that's for certain. Two…"

Moho, who was quiet that whole time suddenly spoke up.

"Two, we would like to interroga… I mean ask Ms Alice a few questions. She might have a few leads for us to follow in our investigations."

"Point." Marisa relented. "Fine. Let's go. But, any funny business and you're toast."

"Deal."

Marisa scanned the canopy and undergrowth of the dimly lit forest. She pointed in a seemingly random direction.

"Alice's house is this way. Come on!"

"How certain are you?" Skye asked with a grin.

"Hello? I live here damn it!"

* * *

Marisa pulled out her broomstick seemingly out of nowhere and began floating slowly in the direction she pointed at before. Skye followed after with Moho tailing just behind. Skye nearly tripped over a few tree roots on the way.

"Is it me or are the roots moving? They seem to be under my feet at the most unpredictable moments."

"It's just you." Marisa cut straight to the point. "I've never ever had trouble with them roots ze."

"That's because you can fly." Skye retorted.

"Oh yeah. I totally forgot."

Skye did not reply. So the rest of the walk to Alice's house was quiet, the only sound was the distant chirping of the early morning cicada. Skye scanned his surroundings. There were many fairies flying in the distance, detectable only by infra-red and occasionally briefly creating dim yet visible flashes of light as they cast danmaku at unknown targets.

"Hey…" Skye began. "Do I refer to you as Ms Marisa or just Marisa?"

Marisa's face flushed red and she nearly lost balance of her broom.

"H-Hey! Where did that come from? You gone nuts or something?"

"No, I'm just trying to clarify something."

"Alright ~..." Marisa said, face still beet red. "If you were writing a story and you had to refer to me from a narrator's perspective, how would you call me?"

"Err… Just Marisa I guess…"

"There we go ze." Marisa huffed.

Skye nodded slowly, not entirely paying attention. He spied a little heat signature moving in upon his position at a north-eastern bearing at a distance of 100 meters and closing. Skye turned in the general direction and stared into the inky blackness. The darkness stared back.

"Funny to see you turn up." Skye half-shouted into the distance. Marisa jumped at the sudden exclamation. "Show yourself will you."

A silhouette emerged from the undergrowth. Large and furry, with a muzzle of a wolf and a body of a man was the creature. Skye stared into its eyes.

"Oh." Marisa deadpanned. "It's you. What did I say the last time about approaching me?"

The creature, or youkai grunted. "These humans. Who are they?"

"Travel companions." Marisa said. "I su..."

"They're going to be my meal this morning." The wolfman youkai snarled.

Sharp and to the point I see. Skye thought to himself. He reached for the pistol that hung by his leg. Without warning, the youkai pounced at began flying towards Skye. He saw the lumbering body of the yokai slowly leave the ground and with a swift side step, avoided the trajectory of the youkai's decent. It landed with a soft thud.

"Woah!" Marisa exclaimed. "Hold on you…"

"Silence!" The youkai yelled, interrupting Marisa again before this time, pouncing at Moho, whom dodged out of the way.

"Guy's a pain." Moho said to Skye through short-range radio. "Permission for lethal retaliation."

"Permission granted." Skye replied.

"Aye." Moho said, smiling slightly as he pulled out his grenade launcher.

Marisa floated up to the canopy of the forest and began firing danmaku warning shots. The youkai ignored them, even those that struck his fur. The wolfman jumped towards Moho again and his ribs met the butt of the latter's grenade launcher.

A sickening crack resounded as the wolfman was thrown backwards violently. Moho spun around and with twitch reflexes, fired a grenade at high velocity at the youkai. Said grenade implanted itself in the youkai's liver and he stumbled backwards onto the ground.

"Tch!" it snarled. "You've got to do better than that to defeat me!"

"Sure." Moho said as he depressed a button on his grenade launcher.

The wolfman became one with the trees, and by that meaning his insides decorated the landscape in such a way it became modern abstract art.

"Woah, woah, woah!" Mairsa floated down from the canopy. "You didn't have to kill him!"

"Knowing the people of this land, from what I have inferred so far, he'll get better." Moho replied, wiping bits of innards of his armor.

"He won't… Dumbass." Marisa deadpanned.

"Well… Shit." Moho replied, shrugging his shoulders.

"He had to defend himself." Skye cut into the conversation. "I would have."

"Of course you would..." Marisa said, seemingly deep in thought. Finally, she snapped her fingers. "Fine. I'm going to have to teach you to shoot danmaku."

"What?" Both Skye and Moho said on instinct.

"Ughhh!" Marisa groaned. "Tell you what ze, we visit Alice first and then we'll see, OK?"

"No problem." Skye said, nodding his head.

Moho silently acknowledged it.

* * *

A few more minutes of walking and another house or rather, cottage loomed in the distance. Some light poured through what little holes there were in the forest's canopy, creating mystical rays of light, illuminating the way albeit partially.

The little house had more windows than that then Marisa's, having nearly six windows just on the front. Light could be seen from those windows and tiny shadows roamed around from within the house. Looking a little closer, Skye could see the slight glinting of what seemed to be silk or wire lacing the entire perimeter of the house. It was like a fortress.

"Ah, there we are." Marisa said. "Welcome to Alice's house ze."

"Fortress you mean. I kinda expected that." Skye commented.

"Yeah, I know. I have been borrowing her stuff for the past few days."

"That being said, it's you fault yes?"

Before Marisa could reply, a lance shot out of nowhere and ricocheted off Skye's shoulder blade. He ducked down on instinct and fired a shot in the direction the lance came from before taking cover. The sound of cracking wood was heard before the clatter of metal on the ground.

Marisa, who was still standing out in the open with her hands on her hip shook her head.

"Yup, you are really too high strung. You need to learn to loosen up ze."

Another lance struck the tree Skye was behind.

"Loosen up?" he said sarcastically. "That's a great idea!"

"Damn right ze." Marisa said before walking up to the front door, sidestepping danmaku as she went. She knocked on the door.

"Hello?" She knocked again. "Anyone home?"

Silence. Skye peeked his head out of cover and ducked down again as another lance whizzed above his head.

"Anyone there?" Skye called out to Marisa.

"Yeah." She replied. "But Alice is ignoring me."

Bang! Marisa jumped as the door knob broke apart and was replaced by a hole in the wooden door frame. The brass handle dropped to the ground and ended with a dull clang. The door swung inwards slowly.

Skye smiled smugly as he put away his smoking pistol. Marisa merely stared back in shock.

"Marisa!" A voice yelled from inside the house. "The door costs money to replace you know!"

"W-Wait." Marisa began. "I didn't do it this time!"

Skye stepped out of cover and so did Moho.

"Yeah!" Marisa pointed her finger at both of the two soldiers. "Those two did it."

Alice was at the door step in her pajamas looking very annoyed. She glanced in Skye's direction and did not bat an eyelid.

"Oh, him? Doubt it." Alice said, her facial expression unchanging. "I spoke to him last night if I remember correctly. He didn't seem like the kind who would break and enter."

"Huh?!" Marisa yelled, mouth half agape.

Skye narrowly dodged another lance launched at his head and caught one directed towards his kidney.

"You mind turning the sentry systems off?" Skye asked. "I'm going to get hit at this rate."

Alice sighed. "Fine."

The lances stopped striking, Skye and Moho then could walk out in the open without the fear of being struck by any stray projectiles.

"Hello again." Skye said. Moho remained silent.

"I knew it..." Alice let her voice trail off.

"Huh?"

"Never mind. So, what do you guys want?"

Marisa cleared her throat. "Ah yes… What were you talking to Skye about yesterday?" she gestured towards Skye with her thumb.

Alice raised an eyebrow. "That's all?"

Marisa nodded her head.

The former sighed. "It was about the spell card rules. Happy?"

Marisa nodded her head again and placed her hands on her chin. "OK… Also ze, about that, do you know anyway to teach these two fools how to use danmaku?"

"I'm listening." Alice said. Skye and Moho turned their heads in Alice's direction.

"I mean, in the course of two days, they nearly killed two people. If this carries on…"

"Yes, then I will be the one to deal with them. If not, then the shrine maiden will. But, yes I get your point."

Marisa's face lit up. "Good! You finally listened to me for once."

Alice raised a finger. "Ah, not before I test them first." she pulled out an oriental doll.

"OK, you two." Alice said, referring to both Skye and Moho. "Take this doll out. That way I can measure the amount of magical potential you two have… OK, any ques…"

The little doll shone with a bright purple light and it went up in flames. Alice on instinct threw the doll upwards into the air and slowly, it reached the peak of its climb and fell to the ground as a pile of ash. Skye put away his laser projector.

"W-What?" Alice stutered.

"Impressed?" Marisa jeered with a cheeky face.

"N-No! I didn't even say start yet!" Alice snapped. "Who taught you to fight like that?!"

"My teacher on Sirrea, Ellenove." Skye said cheerful. "Are we done?"

Alice opened her mouth to protest but no sound came out. Finally, after giving a sigh, she spoke softly.

"Whatever… Come in first."

"Don't mind if I do ze." Marisa said as she leapt into the house. Skye and Moho walked in shortly after.

* * *

Alice gestured to the table that was in the middle of what was assumed to be the living room and told the three guests to sit down. Skye and Moho did as were told. Marisa put her broomstick at a corner of the room and sat opposite the two soldiers. Two dolls, wearing black and white apron dresses carried a platter of tea and cups to the table before flying off. Alice then walked back into her room, got changed into the outfit she wore the previous night and sat down next to Marisa.

"Right." Alice began. "Let's get straight to the point now shall we?"

She cleared her throat once and began speaking.

"Your magic potential is off the charts for someone who has never used it before…"

"It's actually this gun." Skye interrupted pulling out his UV-Laser. "This is what destroyed your doll."

Alice stared at Skye. Silence was observed briefly before Alice continued. "Alright. Show it to me."

Skye slid the aperture across the wooden table, accidentally scratching the varnish treatment off the top in a select few places. Alice picked the device up and examined it carefully. Skye noted her probing a few parts and attempting to access the settings, which were restricted to Skye's RIG only. After a while, she threw the gun back to Skye whom caught it skillfully with one hand.

"Most interesting." Alice commented. "I never knew it was possible to create fire and light from mere crystals… Tell me. What is this… gem called?"

"You mean the gain medium?" Skye asked. Alice tilted her head slightly in confusion.

"It is Titanium-Sapphire ionic crystalline lattice. This is one of the many gain mediums NanoTec uses in their laser making. This one produces a frequency of eight to the power of fourteen hertz or in layman terms, ultraviolet or UV for short."

Alice blinked multiple times. "I beg your pardon. I lost you at 'crystalline lattice'."

"Baby don't hertz him ze." Marisa said, smiling and giggling at the same time.

A doll tipped Marisa's chair over and she fell backwards with a yelp and sharp thunk. Alice added insult to injury by throwing a book at her fallen body.

"Shut up Marisa. You're not helping."

Skye's face twitched slightly into a smile. "You know what, read this."

He cast a holographic projection of a page of a physics textbook about lasers. Alice opened her mouth to speak but Skye held up his hand, interrupting her.

"Yes I know, I've never seen this kind of magic before, please teach me, blah blah etc… One, no, I cannot and will not teach you. Two, I've learnt this on Sirrea, Ellenove when I was four. Three, read the thing."

"W-How did you know what kind of questions I was going to ask?"

"That's because I've heard it all before. Now, all the information you've requested for is on your wall. Please read it quickly."

Alice got up from her chair and walked over to the wall. She tilted her head multiple times, in alternating directions before shaking her head.

"I can't read this." She said in exasperation "I can't even decipher this language. Where are you even from?"

"Told you already. Sirrea, Ellenove."

"And where is th…"

"Do you need a translator?" Skye interrupted for the third time that morning. "For I can act as one."

Alice remained silent before finally conceding.

"Fine…" She said, slightly red in the face. "Read it for me."

"Haha, even you need a translator sometimes. I'm not the only one guilty of that now ze." Marisa, who was back upright, laughed lightly. She ended up back on the floor again.

"OK." Skye said as he cleared his throat. "Let's get this over with."

* * *

 _*_ _Brief Description*_

 _A laser is a device that emits light of variable frequencies and wavelengths through the process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation, ie excitement of electrons._ _Photons released by the aforementioned process is focused onto a single point of a certain size and carries a discrete amount of energy of a single wavelength and frequency, delivering that as heat and light. However due quantum mechanics, more specifically, the Uncertainty Principal, there will be many different wavelengths, uncertain size and uncertain amount of energy._

 _*End of Brief Description*_

* * *

"Got all that?" Skye asked.

Alice shook her head.

"Ze, you talking Japanese or what?" Marisa commented with her hands behind her head.

"Nope." Skye said. "I'm speaking in English. This translator on my shoulder is translating everything I say into Japanese, Loa or whatever kind of fancy language you are speaking."

"Right…" Alice said slowly, while nodding her head even more slowly.

"OK. Now, I have a question to ask you." Skye said. "Have you seen anything suspicious around here lately? Any, strange humanoid creatures holding guns similar to mine?"

Alice but her hand on her chin and her eyes darted to the right, making it obvious she was deep in thought. Finally, she answered.

"Yes. There was this one time about two days ago where there was this human thing making really loud noises. It was very quick and I could not see much of what was happening outside. Although I did manage to catch a brief glimpse of metallic purple before it disappeared."

"Very well." Skye said as he recorded the data down. "One more question… Have you…"

"I haven't told you about the spell card rules yet right?" Alice quickly changed the subject.

"… Nope, not at all."

"OK, then listen up. Now it's time for me to explain things." Alice said with a slight grin.

Alice was done explaining within a minute, much unlike Skye's and pretty much anyone from NanoTec's long winded, scientific explanations. Skye nodded his head through out her entire explanation and had the information recorded verbally in his RIG.

"Understood?" Alice asked.

"Got it." Skye said as he turned the laser down to area denial mode. At least that was non-lethal.

"Come up with any spell cards yet?" asked Alice again.

"No. Perhaps my buddy here has." Skye said as he gestured to Moho.

All the eyes in the room fell onto Moho. Even the dolls dropped whatever they were doing, literally, and stared at Moho. The latter looked rather surprised and dumbfounded. After a moment and after coughing a little, Moho finally spoke.

"How about… Gas Sign, 'Hi#ler's Giant Chamber'?"

"That was offensive and distasteful." Skye shook his head before grinning. "I like it."

"I don't see what was so offensive about that." Alice said nonchalantly.

"Mmhm ze. I agree." Marisa added.

Skye laughed. "I see why you won't. I mean, he was from Earth and he was an asshole."

"Aren't we already on Earth ze?" Marisa asked in confusion.

"No, we are on Cela."

"Huh?"

"Never mind."

Skye then turned and gave Moho a high five. "Awesome." Skye said.

"Yeah! If we really were in a story, I'd bet we would have been taken down immediately!"

"Umm, guys?" Alice began. "Marisa still wants me to teach you all how to shoot danmaku."

"Very well." Skye said.

"OK." Alice cleared her throat. "First, I will need to measure your magic potential. After all, I haven't done that yet."

"Alright. How do we do that?" Skye inquired.

"I need you to undo your… helmet." Alice said, after a brief pause.

Skye's graphene gauntlet slid off his hand.

"That… would work too." Alice said as she placed two fingers on Skye's wrists.

Marisa and Moho watched in curiosity as a discrete dim glow appeared around Alice's fingers. After a few seconds, she lifted her hand away and Skye reequipped his gauntlets. Alice shook her head.

"You have no magic. Zero… None. I don't think he can use danmaku… Ever."

"Fine by me." Skye said as-a-matter-of-factly. "What about my deputy?"

"I can check if you want." Alice said. "Hand."

Moho did as requested and stuck his hand out. The same procedure occurred and once that was done, Alice leaned back on her chair and stretched.

"The second one has some magic. Some, but not much. I'd say he would be able to shoot a little." Alice concluded.

"Great." Moho said. "So, how to?"

"Well…" Alice began, scratching her cheek. "I'll try to explain but it is kind of hard to grasp if you don't have the mathematical formula behind the art."

"That's fine. I'll try now." Moho said.

"OK." Alice said. "Let's begin with something simple."

A doll in a blue dress flew in out of nowhere and placed a small water balloon onto Moho's hand.

"Burst this." Alice instructed.

Suddenly, both Alice and Marisa found themselves half drenched in the cold water from the water balloon. Moho released his hand, dropping the rubber carcass of what was a rubber balloon, onto the floor. Moho grinned slightly.

"Done." He said.

"N-No…" Alice began, finding herself slightly lost for words. "I meant use your magic to do that."

"What? How am I supposed to do that?" Moho asked.

"I can't help with that." Skye said. "Maybe we will come back soon. If you take a look outside, from the angle of the sun rays, I deduce it is mid-morning."

A doll floated over, holding a wooden mechanical clock. Alice takes a glance and nods her head.

"You're right." Alice acknowledged Skye's observation. "It is indeed, 9:34 am now. We'll continue another time. For now… Just don't kill anyone, OK?"

Skye and Moho nodded and saluted.

"Very well. Then we shall take our leave… Oh, one more thing."

Alice looked at Skye.

"You're a doll maker, yes?"

"Indeed."

"Good. Then could you do me a favor?"

"I'm listening."

"Can you make a doll that can receive radio waves and translate said waves into sound?"

Alice blinked multiple times. "Come again?"

"Let me explain…" Skye said with a sigh.

* * *

Another ten minutes had passed by the time Skye finished explaining the theory behind wireless communication. Again, Alice was confused and could not understand until Skye had shown her the textbook page within his RIG.

"Where did you outsiders get this kind of information from?" asked Alice. "This… This is marvelous. You all can heal any kind of wounds, make boxes light up as bright as the full moon, speak into said boxes and cast your messages over vast distances to another one of those boxes, make fires from crystals and create suits that can withstand even the strongest of blows?"

"Son, we invented them. They're called biofoam, the wireless communicator, also the wireless communicator, the laser and graphene respectively. Although your proclamations of graphene is slightly exaggerated but fine."

"H-How?"

"Over hundreds of years of scientific achievements and revolutions."

Alice was flabbergasted. Even Marisa seemed dazed. Literally. Skye coughed and continued.

"OK, before we get off track, could you please get on with the radio doll? I don't have all day."

"Y-Yeah. Sure." Alice stuttered. "I'll start now."

Alice then stood up and walked into what Skye assumed was her study. She closed the door behind her and now, only Skye, Moho and Marisa remained in the room. All three stared at each other awkwardly.

"Well… I can try teach you a little danmaku… My way." Marisa said.

"I'm all ears." Moho said.

"I don't mind." Skye commented. "Go on."

Marisa nodded and smiled. "That's the spirit da ze! Now. Simple. Shoot that wooden block over there."

"That helps a lot." both Moho and Skye said simultaneously in sarcasm.

"Hey! Cut me some slack ze. I'm no teacher."

Moho and Skye remained silent.

"Alright fine." Marisa said. "Just imagine a little ball in your hand. A bright, powerful explosive ball."

"Isn't that called a nuclear hand grenade?" Moho inquired.

"Just do it ze."

"OK. Here goes."

Moho pulled off his gauntlet again and pointed his palm at the wooden block conveniently sitting on top of one of Alice's shelves. A slight tingling sensation formed on Moho's finger tips and his hand began shaking.

"Good, good." Marisa said, nodding her head at the same time. "I can detect some magic at your fingers already. Keep going ze."

A dim red glow began emanating from the palm of Moho's hand. Moho scrunched up his face. It began hurting, as though someone was taking red hot tweezers and pulling bits of flesh from his hand.

"Come on! Almost there!" Marisa cheered. "Now just imagine you're throwing the ball, without the throwing action!"

Skye looked with apprehension and awe as the glow got brighter and brighter. He quickly recorded all his observations in his RIG. Moho felt tears accumulating in his eyes as the pain grew even stronger. Finally, after a pained yell, a small cloud of red gas danmaku erupted from Moho's fingers, dissipating after mere seconds.

"Woah! You alright?" Marisa rushed over to Moho's side, inspecting his palm.

"That sounded painful." Skye commented, nonchalantly. "He'll get better."

Moho stared at his palm. It was swollen and beet red. It was blistered in some areas and boy did it hurt. Moho immediately folded the gauntlet back over his hand and applied biofoam. The pain ceased almost immediately.

"Well… I guess a bit more practice?" Marisa said nervously, scratching her head at the same time.

"Maybe." Moho said while rubbing his armored wrists. "Another time when I'm more up to it. I feel dead tired now and I am in pain. Not exactly the kind of mood one would want to be in to do witchcraft."

"Yeah… You don't have a very large magical potential after all. It will take time to grow. And it's not witchcraft! It's pure and honest magic!"

"One thing." Skye interjected. Moho and Marisa both turned towards him. "What is magical potential even? I mean, is it spiritual energy, environment power or something?"

"If I understand you correctly, it is a mix of both ze." Marisa replied. "You see, you need spiritual energy to draw power from mana points in the environment. If there is an absence of either, your magic doesn't work. You get my drift?"

"Yes. I have a rough idea." Skye said, putting his hand on his chin. "Is there an official name for these mana points? The given name sounds like a suffix."

"Well, yeah. There is. If my memory doesn't fail me, then I'll tell you they call them 'Vis' nodes. I read that in one of Patchouli's books I borrowed."

"Yeah. 'Borrowed'" Skye said, nodding his head at the same time. "By the way, why did my deputy injure himself when casting danmaku? It doesn't seem particularly painful to you."

"Me?" Marisa pointed to herself. "Well, that's because I cast my danmaku through my mini 'hakkero' and through potion jars."

She pulled both out from somewhere in her dress at the same time for effect. I still wonder where in the bloody dress she keeps all of that. Skye thought to himself.

"What's his name again…" Marisa began, tapping her finger on the table. "Yes. Moho ze. He fired danmaku straight from his hands. That is some expert level stuff I never bothered to try. Hell, that wasn't even danmaku."

"Thanks." Moho said. "That felt very encouraging."

The door to Alice's study opened and she walked out. In her hands, rested a little doll wearing a suit of black armor and a helmet with an antenna. Slung on it's back was a little rifle replica and to top everything off, the doll wore a pair of combat boots. It looked very human like and very cute.

"Here. It's done." Alice said, wiping sweat off her brow. "The Radio doll. I've set it on semi-autonomous mode so it will follow you around and will listen to your instructions. However it cannot act for itself as I have yet to develop dolls that are fully sentient."

"Fair enough." Skye said, inspecting every corner of it. "Can it fly?"

"Unassisted." Alice said proudly.

"I assume it will say whatever it receives in radio?"

"Yes. It does."

The doll floated from Alice's hand and landed on Skye's shoulder, next to his RIG projector.

"Say hello Radio." Alice said, gesturing to the doll.

'Radio', the doll, lifted up its right hand and waved at Skye. "Hello." It said.

"Cute…" Skye mumbled to himself.

"By the way Alice," Skye began. "That was rather quick. How did you do that?"

Alice placed a finger on her lips. "Girl's secret."

"Figured. Alright then. I guess we'll be off now." Skye got up from his seat and stretched. "Thank you for your hospitality. I may consider dropping by every now and then."

Alice nodded. "Alright. I will await your next visit. Thank you for NOT being like your new friend."

Alice gestured to Marisa. The latter put her hands up in defense.

"Hey, hey ze! Don't exaggerate! I'm just borrowing your books till I die da ze!"

"I'm really going now." Skye said. He was already at the door with Moho just behind him. "You coming or what?"

"Yeah, yeah." Marisa said as she fetched her broom stick. "I'm here."

"Oh. Last thing." Skye said, stopping himself just outside the house. "Here's for all your hard work."

A little thumbdrive landed on Alice's palm. It had the engraving of the InterCon corporation on it, and in fact, it was the one Skye retrieved from Marisa's house just a day ago.

"I've attached a mini holographic projector onto it so you can read the information stored in it. It has information about NanoTec's early silicone-graphene materials and simple robotics. I've noticed you've taken an interest in those topics and this is my way to repay you. It has been translated to your language so have no fear of not comprehending it. Good day."

"Bye Alice! See you soon!" Marisa yelled behind her as she left the house. Alice nodded in acknowledgment before closing the door behind her.

"I knew he was conspiring with her…" Alice muttered under her breath, pocketing the thumbdrive at the same time.

* * *

Skye and Moho mapped their way back to their escape pod and began walking down a beaten path. Both their jetpacks were out of fuel and the Forest of Magic's environment was too arid for condensers. Skye suspected that it might be either due to the fact that is was noon or the luminescent particles were dampening the cooling and radiation functions probably the latter.

The walk was not as obstructive as the early morning one. There was a surprisingly low rate of attacks on the group on their way out. Skye and Moho did not know why, even though Marisa had previously told them that said forest was very dangerous. They were not complaining though.

Finally, at the end of the path came a clearing in the foliage. The group stepped out and took a look around. The dirt path leading away from the forest was of better condition and Skye could see the human village in the distance and slight to the left of that, the Misty Lake and the rough location of the crash site.

After a brief calculation, Skye deduced that he was more than 20 kilometers from the site. No good walking there by noon. However, the jetpack condensers had only just suddenly began working and said jetpack was being refueled, albeit very slowly.

"How long are you going to stand there for ze?" Marisa asked, impatiently tapping her feet. "Looking around, staring out into space as though you've just received the gift of sight ze."

"I was just calculating some things." Skye replied. "Although, I would need something to do to kill time as I am now refueling my flying machine and I'd like to do something useful… Say, are there any shops around here?"

Marisa immediately pointed in a random direction. "There. That's Kourindou."

"Where? Oh… There."

Skye looked through his RIG magnification functions and spotted a sizable stone house that stood rather hidden in the forest's overhanging canopy. If not for Marisa's pointing out, Skye would have not even noticed the structure.

"Great." Skye said. "Let's go… Wait. I forgot I have no local currency on me."

"It's called Yen." Marisa said. "And it's fine. He'll let you borrow some stuff… Probably."

"Fair enough." Skye said before he began making his way to the shop. Marisa and Moho looked at each other, shrugged their shoulders and followed Skye.

Skye came up to the front of the shop called Kourindou. Apparently the shop was at the end of a side branch of the dirt path connecting the human village and Forest of Magic together. Quite convenient.

The doll that sat on Skye's shoulder began making static noises, the kind of noises made when one blows air through clenched teeth. Skye looked at the doll and poked it's cheek.

"Hello." It said before reverting back to making static noises.

"What are you saying?" Skye asked the doll.

"I am translating all radio waves into sound."

"Where is this source of radio waves from?"

"14 meters forwards."

That was into the shop.

"OK. Can you stop making those noises for the next half hour?"

"Sure." The noise ceased immediately.

"By the way doll, what should I call you?"

"Mistress Alice called me 'Radio'. I think that is my name so call me 'Radio'."

"OK Radio. Thank you."

"You're welcome." Radio said before doing a slight curtsy.

Aww. Ain't it cute. Skye thought to himself. By that time, Moho and Marisa finally caught up with Skye.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Marisa pushed Skye verbally. "Cold feet ze?"

"No. I was talking to the doll." Skye replied immediately.

"You know, if it weren't one of Alice's dolls, I'd call you a crazy bastard." Marisa said with her hands behind her back. "Come on then. You don't have all day right?"

* * *

The door of Kourindou creaked open, revealing a rather homely interior. It was brightly lit, thank goodness, by its many windows lining the walls of the store. There were shelves upon shelves across the entire interior and surprisingly, a kerosene heater was running by the corner of the shop. Coincidentally, it was also the source of infra-red radiation which red-shifted to radio after passing through the stone walls of the building which Radio detected. A single counter stood at the opposite end of the room and behind said counter sat a man.

That person wore a black and blue outfit, kind of like one of a typical villager but not quite. Skye would have mistaken him for an ordinary human if not for his discrete Lolite features such as his nose and hair. He was reading a book and seemed pretty engrossed in it. Whatever it was about, Skye did not know. There was nothing written on it's cover. What he did know however, was that Marisa ran up to the person's desk and slammed both her hands on it.

"Yo! Kourin! I'm back ze!"

'Kourin' jumped at the sudden noise but upon seeing Marisa's face, he calmed down immediately after.

"Oh, hi Marisa." the man replied calmly. "If you're not buying anything or repaying your tab, could you please be quiet for a moment."

Marisa rested her broomstick against the counter and disappeared among the shelves. Skye walked up to 'Kourin'.

"Excuse me. You're a retailer yes?"

"That would be correct, although trader would be more accurate." he replied, head not lifting up from his book.

"How do I address you?"

The book slammed shut. The man stood up, standing almost half a head taller than Skye.

"Morichika Rinnoskue. I don't think I've ever met you two before."

"Name's Skye and Moho." Skye said, pointing to Moho at the same time. "A pleasure."

"Likewise." Rinnosuke replied.

"Alright. So, straight to the point. What do you sell?"

"Pretty much anything." He said. "Although there is a price to everything obviously."

"Good. Do you sell galena? Some amorphous carbon would be useful too."

"Yes. I do. Let me go and get them." Rinnosuke said before walking to the back room behind his counter and brought out two boxes of the silvery and black substances.

"That will be 300 yen for both boxes."

Skye grabbed one of the boxes and lifted it up. Eight kilograms of galena. A damn good deal.

"Say, do you take other objects as payment?"

"Yes I do. But they have to be of equal worth as the item of exchange."

"Are you particularly interested in outside world items?" Skye probed.

"Fascinated actually."

"Good. Then how much for this?"

Skye pulled out one of his laser batteries and placed it on the counter. Rinnosuke bent down and inspected the device with great interest. Finally, he got back up and began speaking, all the time barely containing his excitement.

"Very interesting indeed." he said. '"I'd say you would be able to buy out half the store with this."

"You know what it does? Impressive."

"Yes. It is a battery and it's purposes is to store energy for use in devastating weapons."

"Correct. Now, if that is so, I'd like to have all the cash you have on hand, and another box of amorphous carbon."

"Right away." Rinnoskue said as he went to his storage room and got out two other boxes, both of different sizes.

By that time, Marisa reappeared and placed five glass jars and a tea set on the counter.

"Add that to my tab ze." Marisa said cheerfully. Rinnosuke stared at Marisa and then at Skye.

"What?… Oh fine." Skye conceded. "I'll pay off Marisa's tab with the rest of the trade value."

"Hey, thanks ze!" Marisa said excitedly. "Is there enough left to clear Reimu's tab too?"

Skye wanted to protest but Rinnoskue interrupted him. "Yes. There's enough. Done. Thank you very much good sir."

Skye's mouth hung agape, no words coming out from his lips. He slowly put down his raised hand and sighed in defeat. Oh well. Skye consoled himself. At least I got some money out from this and I could easily fabricate another battery. Now how much money did I get…

Rinnosuke opened the smaller box and pulled out a bag of money.

"Here." he said. "25 000 Yen and a bit."

"Thanks." Skye reached out to grab the bag before stuffing it into his suit's pockets.

"I could probably pay off a medical bill and have some to spare after." Skye mumbled to himself.

Moho, who was quiet all the while suddenly spoke up. "I think we'll get three iron sheets to go with as well."

Said iron sheets were brought out immediately. Moho then stuffed an iron sheet into each one of the boxes before lifting up said boxes and attaching them magnetically to the back of his and Skye's jetpack. Marisa stared at the ordeal.

"Wha… How did you do that?!" she asked in a rather high pitched voice.

"Do we really have to explain everything that we do?" Moho and Skye groaned simultaneously.

"I have to say so too. I am particularly interested in how you do that." Rinnosuke added.

"Outsider's secret." Skye said with a smile.

"Oh come on!" Marisa exclaimed. "Just because you just met Alice doesn't mean you have to act like her!"

"Fine, but I'll explain later."

"OK. You better ze."

Rinnosuke clapped his hands. "Alright then. I think we're done here. Mr Skye, if at all possible, could you bring more of such objects? They are very useful to me."

"Sure." Skye paused, checking the fuel gauge of his jetpack. It was at 40%.

"Well then, I will go now." Skye said. "We would probably stop by some more in the future but we'll see yeah?"

Rinnosuke nodded. "Alright then. Safe travels."

"Yeah, you too." Skye said as he stepped out of the shop and back out into the open. He then placed his head in his palms. "Damn it! Why did I say 'you too'?"

* * *

Once Moho and Marisa had left the shop, Skye was staring out into the horizon. He was measuring windspeed and direction and plotting a flight path back to the escape pod. Finally, he snapped his fingers.

"OK. We're done here. Moho, we have to fly in that direction, one Orion jump and then glide mode."

"Aye."

"Why do you guys have to be so long winded with your flying? It is just easier to fly in a straight line ze, and it's a lot faster." Marisa commented.

"Limited flight time." Skye said as he patted the aileron of his jetpack. "You have to account for acceleration as well. I can't just hover around freely like you cheaters."

"W-What?!" Marisa exclaimed. "I'm not a…"

"Moho! Let's go! Radio, hold on!" Skye interrupted her with a quick order and immediately took to the skies, Moho following at an intermediate distance.

Wind blasted all over, increasing the ambient temperature by a good 8 degrees and scorching ground zero into a patch of fine glass. Marisa pressed her skirt down with one hand in a desperate attempt to prevent it from turning itself inside out and held onto her hat with the other.

By the time the wind stopped roaring, Skye and Moho was long gone. The only trace of them was the glassed earth before Marisa and two black specks soaring in the sky with a thin line of smoke trailing behind them.

"Hey! Everything OK? What happened?" Rinnoskue asked out of nowhere.

Marisa jumped and turned around immediately to find Rinnosuke standing by the door of his shop in a mix of shock and curiosity.

"Oh… Er, nothing happened. Just outsider things… Yeah ze! That." Marisa gave a quick answer before subsequently flying off at top speed.

"Wait! Hey!" Rinnoskue shouted after her to no avail. Marisa was well above the clouds by then. The shopkeeper sighed. "Well… That's Marisa for you." he mumbled to himself before reentering his shop, closing the door behind himself.

* * *

Skye turned around and found that Marisa was nowhere to be seen. He quickly checked his front again as he banked left slowly. Little trails of mist formed from the tips of his jetpack's ailerons as he turned.

We're already at the escape pod and she still hasn't arrived yet. Skye thought to himself. Has she lost her way? Nah. Couldn't be. She has magic and magic is supposed to solve everything.

The ground came up like a wall. The lake bank where the escape pod landed was still brown dirt as no grass had time to regrow yet. Little traces of yellow sand could also be seen as Skye approached the landing site.

With his altitude dropping and rapidly, he did a backflip, coming down to the ground feet first. He leaned forwards slightly in preparation for landing.

A final burst of deceleration from his jetpack put Skye at the optimal speed for landing. His legs dug into the dirt slightly before he tumbled forwards, did a recover roll and ended up back on his feet with zero horizontal velocity. He dusted himself off, made sure that Moho had landed safely and that Radio was safe and sound on his shoulder before stretching and realizing his goods' boxes had been busted and everything was all over the ground.

"Aww dammit!" Skye cursed. "This is going to be a pain to clear up."

Moho took the box off his back and placed it on the ground. "Thank goodness I never do redundant rolls when I land. They are there just to make you look cool."

"Ssh!" Skye quickly diffused the conversation. "Anyways, let's get all this cleared up before the others arrive. It shouldn't take too long as all the materials are insoluble in water. Let's get on with it."

"Aye."

Two minutes passed and not a single stray piece of material lay on the ground anywhere. Everything was inside the escape pod, in their respective, albeit roughly patched up boxes. Skye dusted his hands.

"Well, that does it. Everything is packed and that black clad witch is still not here yet. She either has lost her way or has decided to abandon our investigations. I would assume the latter."

"Don't be too surprised when she does arrive." Moho replied.

"I suppose so. We are on Cela and to make matters worse, in a place called Gensokyo. Anything could happen. Like for example, I could…"

* * *

"Wow! Wow! Look out ~ !" a voice came from seemingly nowhere.

Skye did not finish his sentence. He was standing one moment and sprawled across a tree branch the next, half dazed and feeling very jarred. A broomstick was embedded in the tree he was on and Marisa was plastered across said tree. Radio had barely avoided the danger and was hovering where Skye once stood, seemingly unharmed.

"Woah!" Moho exclaimed. "Where'd you learn to drive?"

Skye shook his head and regained his sense of balance. A little application of biofoam to stop his slight internal bleeding and he was back on his feet again with Radio on his shoulder. Skye dusted himself as he inspected the Marisa pancake.

"Well… I guess that's what happens when you hit a tree at near Mach 1." Skye muttered as he peeled Marisa off and lay her on the ground. He placed two fingers at her neck before nodding.

"She's alive. Unconscious but alive. However the hell she survived that is beyond me. I would have probably died if I weren't flung well above the trunk…"

Marisa suddenly shot up from her laid down position. She looked around, stared at Skye, Moho and then at her hat which was on the ground and to her right. She quickly grabbed her hat and placed it back on her head.

"Well…" Marisa began. "Shit. Sorry."

"Indeed." Skye said. "Can you stand?" he reached his hand out. Marisa shot to her feet, leaving Skye hanging. He awkwardly put his hand back down.

"Question one." Skye asked as Marisa was dusting herself off. "Where were you?"

"You left without me ze!"

"Right. Second question, how come you took so long?"

"I lost my way! You never told me where your thing was!"

"I told you." Moho said unconsciously and quietly. Skye ignored him.

"Good to see you've finally found your way. You hurt anywhere?"

"Nope. Not at all. I feel as fit as a fiddle."

"How? One does not simply hit a tree at the speed of sound and walk out of it unscathed."

"Magic." Marisa said as she lifted one leg and winked at Skye. He rolled his eyes.

"Well then." Skye said as he walked over to the escape pod and leaned on it's cold outer hull. "Now that we're all here. All that's left for us to do is wait for my squad…"

"Testing, testing." Radio began speaking. Skye tilted his head towards Radio.

"Where's the source coming from?" Skye asked the little doll.

Radio pointed upwards and towards the Misty Lake before she continued speaking. "Calling, 01-04. Message from 01-01. Inbound for your position, eta 60s, low speed."

Skye looked up and saw three dots in the sky. Two of them clad in black and one in red and a drape of black and purple on one of the armored figures. It was obvious who they were except for the strange new entity.

"Radio apparatus, online…" Skye muttered to himself as he readied his RIG communications. "Moho! Send a message through my pair command RIG channel."

Moho nodded his head and opened a holographic dashboard from his RIG.

"Yes, we can see you. This is from Moho, 01-03. Over."

"Wonder who that is?" Skye asked as he pointed to the unconscious person slung on one of his squad member's shoulder.

Suddenly, said person detached herself from what seemed to be Tylo's shoulder and began flying closely behind him. That person had long bunny ears and was dressed in a business suit and miniskirt. Whomever that was, Skye didn't know. Oh well. He thought to himself. I'll find out soon enough.

Suddenly, the two black figures began dipping and diving towards the crash site. Obviously going in for a high speed landing. Skye looked at Marisa and then at Moho and finally at Radio, the little doll sitting on his shoulder.

"Let's give our squad leader a good morning shall we?" Skye said. "And let's tell him and his new girlfriend that they are late."

Moho nodded, while Marisa stood there slightly caught off guard.

Skye turned and looked up at the sky again. The four dots were getting bigger and fast.

Today is going to be a big day. Skye thought to himself.

 **To be continued.**


	9. Firearms and Magic

**Das Author's Note: Well, well, well. Long time no see. Is my entire audience still here? Good. Glad to see that you have waited so long for this next chapter. I feel honored. Anyways, sorry for the long delay between this chapter and the last. You know, school and stuff. Also the actual GKE Universe to work on... You get the idea. Anyways, I won't delay you any further. Sit back, relax and enjoy yet another chapter of lousy writing.**

 **PS, sorry. Could not think of a better name for the chapter. Any suggestions?**

* * *

Firearms and Magic

Tylo came down hard and fast, landing by the lake's edge and spraying up a large amount of water and mud in the process. Miyu landed next, followed by Reimu and then Reisen.

Skye, half covered in mud clapped slowly.

"Bravo." he sneered. "Fantastic landing."

"You're early." Tylo said. "Any news?"

"Moho has the data files." Skye said, gesturing towards the aforementioned person. "He'll send them to you."

"Great... Is that a doll?"

"Yes."

"Hmm... I see. Very well."

Reimu, who was quiet all the while stepped forwards.

"So, what's the deal? What are we doing here."

"Good question." Tylo said. "And that comes with a very good answer. But first, let me test your combat capabilities."

Reimu cracked her knuckles. "Ready for this." she said with a smile.

Tylo pointed at the escape pod.

"Pierce it's armor. If you're so powerful, this should be easy."

"Alright then. There."

Reimu swung her hand wide and her amulets streaked towards the pod in a straight volley. With a thunder of sparks and splinters, all of Reimu's cards fell to the ground either snapped or crumpled. The pod on the other hand was unscathed.

"Woah! I've never ever seen something withstand that!" yelled Marisa from behind.

"It must be something alien..." mumbled Reisen.

Reimu simply stared.

"Alright. You don't have what it takes to fight the Spores. Now, to answer your question..."

"Excuse me?!" Reimu half-yelled. "What do you mean I don't have what it takes? And what do you mean I don't have what it takes?!"

Her repeating herself was probably unintentional and completely psychological. Most onlookers would have thought an omnipotent writer of the scene made a grammatical error.

"Indeed. Try again."

Reimu did a backflip and raised both her hands high above her head. Little orbs of light began manifesting themselves amongst Reimu's fingers as wind began to blow. A small breeze picked up not too long before it turned into it's own mini gale.

A card fluttered out of Reimu's detached sleeve and began orbiting the orb. The sphere of magical power grew brighter and a sharp whine filled the air.

"Find some cover." Tylo said. His squad members nodded in unison and did as they were told.

Finally, the card that was twirling around the vortex was shredded by the sheer force of the wind, with it's paper being cast into the skies. With a deep breath, Reimu opened her mouth and yelled at the top of her lungs.

"Spirit Sign! 'Fantasy Orb'!"

The giant 'bomb' came crashing down and with a deafening blast, the sky was lit up with a scorching white light. Mud and dust was thrown high into the atmosphere, seemingly defying gravity as they hung in the air like haze in Beijing.

When all the sound had echoed into oblivion and most of the dust settling, all that remained of the river bank was a not-too-large crater about the size of an average football field.

Skye shook his head, getting rid of all the mud piled on his head. Looking around, he was half buried in the ground with his laser gun sticking optics first in the mud in front of him. The rock he used for cover was no more. Radio fluttered down slowly and landed on the stock of Skye's laser gun. It tilted it's head and merely stared.

Just slightly ahead of him, the pod lay tipped over, soiled and scorched but intact nonetheless. Suddenly, the pod was tipped back upright on it's base and Tylo climbed out of the hole that was under the pod. He dusted his hands and stretched.

Reimu flew down towards him. "Well? Satisfied?"

"Guess."

"Satis..."

"No. That was too slow."

Reimu was taken aback and threw her arms into the air in protest. "Well, what do you expect?! You know how much energy I put into that?!"

"I don't know how you did it, nor does it matter." Tylo said as he flicked a holographic stopwatch in front of Reimu.

"Look at this." Tylo continued. "That took two minutes and a bit… Or roughly five episodes of Dragon Ball Z. You get my message."

Reimu opened her mouth to protest but Moho interrupted her.

"Well, that's that. Sir?"

Tylo nodded. "By the way, where are the others?"

Upon him saying this, Marisa and Reisen were seen flying back in in the distance. With swiftness akin to that of a cat, Marisa landed, dismounted Reisen and went straight up into Reimu's face.

"What the hell was that for?" Marisa questioned, half shouting into her friend's ear.

"I was trying to destroy that damn thing!" Reimu yelled back.

Tylo held up his hand to interrupt. Both girls instinctively stopped their conversations instantly and stared at him.

"Well, that proves it already. Will you listen to me?"

"To be fair, why don't you pierce the pod's armor! Let's see if you can." Reimu huffed.

"Like this?" asked Skye rhetorically.

Skye, who was half covered in mud, was leaning on the pod with his carbon blade stuck to the side of the former. Little trails of black smoke were wafting from the penetration point and a little dull red glow accompanied the circumference of the site.

Reimu's jaws dropped again. It was so easy for the outsiders and yet for a shrine maiden… Reimu began thinking to herself. She was awakened and brought back to reality by Tylo snapping his fingers in front of her face.

"What?!" She yelled in a sudden outburst.

"Follow me. You need a new weapon… You too Marisa and Reisen, or should I say Pvt Udongein."

Reisen saluted and immediately began marching after Tylo. Reimu stomped after. Marisa just stood there slightly confused.

Tylo began gesturing to Miyu. "Two MGP-98s, full-mag. You know what to do… Reisen, you have your own gun right?"

Out of nowhere, an M16A1 appeared in Reisen's hands. The old gas operated firearms of the late 20th century. Wherever the hell she got that from.

"Good." Tylo acknowledged Reisen as he eyed Miyu entering the scorched pod. Hope the fabricators on board did not break under all the damage sustained, thought Tylo.

Tylo turned to face the three girls who were just trailing slightly behind him.

"OK everyone, there is going to be a short delay in the acquisition of your new toys so let me show you how to operate them. Reisen, how are your shooting skills?"

Reisen lifted her rifle slightly and stared at her bandaged hand before answering.

"Well… I remember the basics… Somewhat."

"Good enough. Show us." Tylo pointed at a random fairy flying in the distance.

"But… That fairy did nothing wrong to us." Reisen tried to protest.

"Well… Look at her assaulting that other fairy over there. Are you going to just let that happen?"

"But..."

"Distance, 300 meters; Wind speed, 1.1 m/s, bearing 002 degrees. Weapons free."

Reisen gulped. After a brief moment of hesitation, she lifted the rifle to firing position. Reimu and Marisa both watched silently and in slight awe.

The iron sights of the M16A1 almost completely obscured the fairy in the distance. Reisen's arms were shaking and her breath ragged. Tylo held a passive observation stance.

Finally, Reisen breathed in deeply and exhaled, holding her breath. However her arms were still shaking visibly.

"I-I can't Tyl… Sir. I really can't."

"Don't worry." Tylo reassured Reisen. "I got you covered."

Reisen held her breath again, this time, holding the fairy in between the two sights on the rifle. Reisen then shut her eyes and as quickly, pulled the trigger.

The resounding report reverberated and echoed around the area, scaring away all birds within earshot. The fairy in the distance suddenly spun and fell face first into the water. Reimu and Marisa, despite having heard a gun fire more than once before in the past few hours, still could not help but flinch at the sudden bang.

"Near miss. You hit the fairy's right wing only." Tylo reported nonchalantly.

Reisen stared at her rifle and then downrange. The fairy whom she just shot suddenly shot out of the water and began flying, or rather limping in her direction. Reisen suddenly tensed up, remembering tragedies from the not too distant past.

Both of the rabbit girl's retinas in her oversized optical nerves contracted and she broke down into a panic induced fluster. Reisen's eyes turned blood red and her breathing was erratic and uneven. The rifle was clattering in her hands and the swaying of said rifle prevented any accurate shots.

"Calm down. Reisen." Tylo again said. "Focus."

An acute wave of psionic activity began sweeping over the area and Tylo found himself with a slight migraine manifesting with a slight throb in his left temple. The psionic blockers were switched on and the headache disappeared immediately.

The fairy was still closing albeit, slowly. Reisen on the other hand, remained panicked.

Two bangs sounded and Reisen screamed, throwing her rifle across the floor and hurdling up into a ball by the lake bank. The fairy's head and upper torso was torn asunder and the remains collapsed into the lake in a shower of glitter and blue crystals.

"Done." Tylo said to himself as he re-holstered his weapon. "You OK?"

Tylo took a glance at Reisen.

"Well then… Alright. That concludes her skill analysis. Miyu?"

"Right here sir."

In Miyu's arms were two assault rifles, similar to Tylo's minus the extendable barrel. Tylo turned to face Reimu and Marisa only to find that both of them were clasping their heads in an unbearable headache.

"Oh." Tylo deadpanned. Taking the initiative, Moho dropped a psionic blocker module onto Reisen's head. The migraine causing waves immediately vanished.

"The hell was that?" Reimu said. "Why'd you do that?"

Marisa gestured to imply her similar opinion.

"It was just a test. Don't worry, she'll get better." Tylo said as he took the rifles from Miyu.

"Reimu, how good are you at shooting?" Tylo asked.

"Well, what do you think?" she replied.

"I'd say you are frankly, terrible at it. Therefore, this is where I come in."

Reimu's eyes visibility twitched as she heard this. Reimu took the sleek graphene rifle into her hands and tested it's weight.

"It's ugly… And not elegant." Reimu commented.

"But it works. That's the most important part about it." Skye said from the sidelines. "Just bear with us. You can return it once the Spore invasion is over."

Tylo and Miyu nodded in agreement. Moho on the other hand was trying to console Reisen.

"And Marisa, this is yours." Tylo said as he handed Marisa her rifle.

"Why black?" Marisa asked, obviously referring to the color of her new device.

"Why not?" Tylo replied back. "Black is the perfect color for concealment. You don't want to be seen shooting someone's face off."

"If it ain't flashy, it ain't magic!" Marisa said with a huff.

"This ain't magic yo." Tylo replied playfully with a grin.

"Damn." said Marisa.

Reimu began flicking buttons and prodding the rifle. She looked it up and down, trying to deduce how the strange and alien device even worked. She continued with that until Tylo stopped her looking down the rifle's barrel.

"Don't do that." Tylo said calmly with a tone of seriousness.

"Why?"

"Why do you think? That is where our killer shells come from, or in your language, lethal danmafuki or how ever you pronounce that."

"Ah, so this thing is really flashy after all!" Marisa's eyes lit up. "You said danmaku right?"

"Yes, but only if you use tracers and last I checked, we spec ops don't use tracers."

"Oh come on!" Marisa shouted in slight frustration.

"OK, enough distractions with the nitty-gritty. You need to know how to use them. First, take safety off."

"Safety?" Marisa and Reimu said in unison.

"Yes. The little lever by the trigger."

"Trigger?" both said again.

"Miyu, take the blonde." Tylo said after turning his translator off. "The shrine maiden is mine."

Miyu nodded in acknowledgment.

Tylo turned the translator back on. "OK, Reimu. Follow me, it would be easier for me to teach you two one by one."

"Huh? OK. That's fine I guess." Reimu said as she shrugged her shoulders.

"Good… Moho, keep at what you are doing. We need her recovered by dusk. Skye, go and establish a perimeter." Tylo gave out instructions.

"Aye." replied Moho.

"Where?" asked Skye.

"Down the foliage, 50 meters with the pod as origin."

"Aye." he affirmed the order.

Skye was off at once and he disappeared into the forest, the little doll trailing lazily after him. Tylo sighed slightly before turning back to Reimu.

"Right. So, now with all that boring stuff out of the way, let us begin."

Reimu stared at Tylo blankly.

"The trigger is this one." Tylo said as he pointed to… the trigger. "It is what you pull to sho… Don't pull it yet!"

Reimu relaxed her finger. Tylo sighed again.

"Alright. Check your ammo. It is the box under the scope." Tylo pointed to the magazine.

"Press this mechanical release button here." Tylo pointed again.

Reimu did as she was told and almost ripped the magazine out from the feed slot.

"Careful with that. Now, do you see anything in the magazine?"

"… Yes, there are bullets in it."

"Good. Now, put it back into the rifle where you found it with the bullets facing down."

The magazine slid back into the gun, albeit clumsily, with a click.

"Now, you may turn the safety off if you have not already done so."

"I think it has already been turned off."

"Good. Now, the barrel..." Tylo pointed again. "Is the exit point of your projectile, danmeku or whatever you want to call it. Make sure you are not pointing it at any of your friends when safety is off. You don't want to accidentally give them a surprise, impromptu makeover."

Reimu nodded, indicating she understood Tylo, at least to some extent.

* * *

Skye walked slowly within the undergrowth of a relatively dense part of the local forest. He marked every fifty steps with a little beacon and perception filter. It was mild, only with a passive function simply to prevent anyone from finding the landing site on purpose.

Every twenty steps or so, a pack of the white fluffy sentient balls of dust, kedama according to Reimu, would attempt to assault him to no avail. In fact, they were more of a nuisance than a threat. With every swing of his sword, the area would become dusty. Every time it did, it would make Radio get dusty and sneeze and would also clog up vital ports in his suit, causing the RIG to beep in annoyance that the reactor was running two Kelvin above optimal temperature.

Skye continued to trudge along the path. After all, he was ordered to do as his leader said. Just if only these fluffles would disappear, it would make my job just a little easier. Thought Skye.

"Indeed. If only they did."

Skye turned around and swung his blade. A round turn severed a tree branch from its parent plant cleanly and instantly.

"Was that my imagination?" Skye mumbled to himself as he posed in a battle stance.

"No my good sir. Not at all." came the voice again.

Skye immediately turned, blade posed, coming down with a rush of wind only to have it meet metal with a sickening clash and the blade flying out of his hand.

Skye held back a gasp of surprise and doubled back with a dash. In front of him hung a veil of eyes. It took him a double take to properly identify what he was facing but by then, he had made a good ten meters gap between himself and the target.

He reached for his laser rifle, only to find in horror that it was no longer strapped to his back.

"Looking for this?" asked the same voice, with no hint of malice in it.

This time, Skye turned slowly and found a woman before him. Not even standing she was. In fact, she was seated atop what seemed to be a piece fabric tipped with red ribbons and filled with eyes. Yes, eyes.

"OK then." Skye said slowly and with violence hinted in his voice. "The usual. Who are you and what do you want?"

"Don't you know that it is rude to ask a lady her name before you give yours?" she replied.

Skye looked at his opponent closer. A deep purple dress, a giant pink parasol in her left arm and a medium sized paper fan in one of her dress pockets. A pale pink mob cap, similar to that of the vampire Remila done with a red ribbon around the circumference of said cap, on top of her long blonde hair.

And in her right hand, the woman held Skye's laser rifle.

"Hmm… A pretty light weapon for a man of your height… Well, you can have it back if soon if you cooperate. Fu fu…"

Skye was silent. His eyes flicked around under his helmet looking for an approach.

"There is no need for that boy…" The woman said as she pulled out an M2 Handgun from the fabric she was seated upon.

Skye reached for his holster and to his horror, his pistol was missing. It was pretty obvious as to where it was now.

Skye did not ease off his combat stance, nor did he take his eyes off the strange woman… if she could even be called so by this point.

"Oh come on." the lady lamented. "Cat got your tongue?"

There was not much time left. Skye had a sudden sensation. On the spur of the moment, he dug into the ground and began dashing towards his target. The woman simply laughed and swept her hand over a wide arc.

Skye's vision suddenly blurred as he was sent flying at high speeds in the same direction the woman waved her hand. Skye was stopped suddenly as he impacted a large tree on his side, almost breaking the entire plant in to before collapsing to the ground.

Staggering to his feet, Skye reached his half limp hand towards his right thigh only to remember that his pistol was now non-existent.

"*Warning!*" His suit's RIG began yelling. "*Severe physical trauma detected. Initiating armor lock/recovery mode.*"

Skye coughed once, spewing blood onto his visor and scrunching his face up in pain.

"O-Override." he ordered his RIG.

"Acknowledged." the RIG replied.

The woman then walked up to Skye's broken body, encased within his battle suit. She was spinning his pistol around, inspecting every niche of its design.

"Hmm… Skye?" the woman said. "Isn't that a girl's name?"

"I-I get that a lot…" Skye coughed out a reply.

"Oh?" the woman seemed taken aback. "You're still alive? Fascinating. So, tell me, what are you and this… NanoTec doing in Gensokyo?"

"Oh man…" Skye mumbled to himself. "I fell like I got hit by a train filled with anvils…"

"You did. Now, let me guess…" the woman put the paper fan on her chin.

Radio, whom was missing throughout the ordeal fluttered down onto the nearest intact branch, silently watching everything unfold.

Finally, the lady snapped her paper fan shut.

"Crashed landed?" she asked with an eerie smile. "Stranded?"

"S-Spot on." Skye choked a slight blood soaked smile.

"Good… Now, mind telling me where all these aliens are coming from?"

"I would if I knew…" Skye coghed. "But does i-it look like I do?"

"Hmm… I see. Well then Skye. Anything else to say for yourself?"

Skye remained silent. His vision was losing color and his vision was fading rapidly.

"*Warning. Blood levels critical. Death imminent in two minutes.*" Cautioned the RIG.

"O-Over...ride released." Skye mumbled. The RIG acknowledged this immediately and began overdosing him with biofoam. It was soothing and was making him very sleepy.

An UV-Laser Projector and an M2 Handgun clattered by the side of Skye. The dull clicking of footsteps could then be heard receding.

"Yakumo. Yukari Yakumo is the name. Remember it… If are still alive by then… Fu fu."

Which was the last thing Skye heard before his armor froze, locking him in place. A small trickle of blood flowed down the side of his mouth and his head became fuzzy. Letting the biofoam take over, Skye felt as though he was floating in a viscous fluid, free flowing and very comfortable. Letting one more thought slip into his mind before passing out, Skye began to think.

What the hell was I thinking?

* * *

Reimu rested the rifle stock on her shoulders. It was of a bullpup design so a girl of her stature had no problem balancing the rifle. Tylo looked at Reimu and shook his head.

"No Reimu. You have to rest the rifle like this. I know you don't want to do this and neither do I. Let's do it quickly and get it over and done with."

"Oh come on." Reimu said. "I'm a shrine maiden. A professional. I should be able to do this. What's the worst that could happen?"

Tylo then took a step back and gestured towards Reimu.

"Fine. Go ahead. Take a shot down the lake."

Reimu raised the rifle and took aim. Her arm was parallel to the ground and was bent awkwardly. Probably not the safest of positions to be in.

Reimu smirked. "See Tylo? Nothing is going to happ…"

A crack followed the report of the gun with a clatter just after. Reimu scrunched up her face and held her right arm with her left hand. Before she could drop to her knees, Tylo caught her by her waist.

"See what I told you? That's called recoil" Tylo remarked. "This is going to hurt. Brace."

Tylo then pulled Reimu's dislocated arm back into place. The ball slid back into its socket with a sickening snap and the latter yelped. Reimu's eyes glazed over slightly and she, through the extreme pain nearly passed out.

"Better?"

Reimu weakly flexed and relaxed her arm. She nodded her head.

"Great… Where is Skye? He should have been back by now."

Miyu, whom the question was directed to, shrugged her shoulders.

"Moho, how's the rabbi… I mean Reisen?"

Moho looked up and shook his head. "Nay sir. She isn't calming down. I'll take care of her."

Tylo nodded his head. While he would not usually worry about his subordinates, something told him that something, whatever it was, was not right. Tylo got up.

"Reimu." Tylo said.

"Hmm?"

"I'm going to go to the village to see if I can raise funds. You can come along if you like."

"Raise funds…" Reimu began. "Why would you want to do that?"

"So that I can deal with the local inhabitants. Gather intel, hire support, and so on."

"No, no. That's not what I meant."

"Huh?"

"I mean that, why don't you just wait for people to donate to you?"

"I'm no shrine maiden, but I am pretty sure it doesn't work that way."

Reimu pulled the inside linings of her pockets inside-out.

"True…" Reimu lamented.

Tylo stood up and stretched.

"Miyu. How's Marisa?"

"Uncooperative." Miyu sighed. "She keeps saying that 'it ain't magic if it ain't flashy' and refuses to use any bullet other than the magnesium tracers."

"OK. Then let her use the magnesium tracers. Just remind me not to bring her on night missions."

"Roger."

Tylo then turned to Reimu.

"Well?"

"I'll come. As much as I would like to stay at home and drink tea… Well, interesting outsiders do not come everyday."

"I'll take that as a compliment. Bring the gun, let's go."

Before Tylo could enter within the shade of the canopy, Reimu stopped him.

"Stop." she snapped.

"Huh?…"

"That will take too long."

"I agree. You want to fly?"

"Your… flying thing is too noisy."

"Then what do you suggest?"

Reimu then sighed, looked straight up into the sky, as though muttering a prayer before she glided behind Tylo and put a hand on his back. This is not going to end well thought Tylo.

"Spirit Sign!" Reimu began.

"Oh no…" muttered Tylo.

* * *

There was a sudden explosion, or what sounded like an explosion. Skye's head shot up off the ground as soon as he heard the rumble and felt the ground shake. His armor was covered in dirt and the interior of his helmet as far as he could see was caked with blood. His own.

Skye noticed his weapons lying by his sides, the laser on the left and handgun on the right. However they ended up back there was beyond him… Or perhaps he forgot. He didn't know.

What he did know however was that his head was filled with new found information he could not quite put his finger on exactly what it was. It was as though he had received answers without even knowing the question to begin with. Other than that, he knew that his head was also spinning and that he didn't know the way back to the crash site.

Skye pulled himself into a crouch position. His body ached like there was no tomorrow. Little subtle creaks within his bone structure could be heard by himself and every movement resulted in almost unimaginable pain.

Taking a look around, Skye noted he was in a small clearing within a dense forest. The trees in the area, more specifically behind him, were cracked and some broken in half. How and why was also beyond Skye's current processing capacity.

Said capacity was being taken up telling him how much he needed a holiday.

Skye peeled his helmet off his head. He found it slightly difficult, considering how the helmet had almost glued itself in place with thick viscous blood still clotting around its rims. He cleaned out the inside and dusted the outside of his helmet before securing it back in place.

With a pained groan and with support from his laser rifle, he staggered to his feet. This was the… third? No, fourth time I was knocked out? Skye thought to himself as he began walking or rather, limping in a random direction.

It's not a good idea to remain stationary. Skye thought to himself. Who know what might get him in the process. Out of the small clearing led deeper into the forest. Through the dimly lit path were slightly faded footprints very familiar to Skye.

Perhaps to follow them might not be such a bad idea.

* * *

Tylo's head was spinning. Both literally and metaphorically. Tylo reached the apex of his trajectory in about 15 seconds. It will not be another nine before he hit the ground. The ailerons on his jetpack unfolded, bringing Tylo's lateral roll to almost a complete stop.

The ground was approaching like a massive rock wall. The ailerons then flattened themselves against the roaring air currents, nearly pivoting Tylo around about the wings. Two seconds. Tylo calculated in his head. Not enough time to stop.

He braced himself for the impending shock but felt nothing. Reimu, in the nick of time yanked Tylo vertically upwards through raw physical strength alone, allowing him enough time to backflip land without digging a nice long trench along the main road of the human village.

Instead, he left a small crater but hey, at least it was not a trench. It will be much easier to clear up later.

The dust settled as quickly as eyes were settled upon Tylo as though he were some form of alien… which he was. Tylo dusted himself off and took special care with his back, more specifically, a couple of centimeters below his jetpack which Reimu used as a launch point. Minor scorching but nothing too serious.

Reimu landed silently next to Tylo.

"Whatever you want to do, make it quick." Reimu whispered. Tylo nodded.

"Find me the… Where do the people keep their contracts anyways?"

"Don't ask me. How would I know."

"Well, a look and away we will go… Maybe we ask that teacher. Might yield us something useful."

"Keine? Alright. Fine."

* * *

Stumbling back out into a clearing, Skye could not help but shield his eyes from the sudden brightness of the sun. In the not too far distance was a small wooden bridge which ended by a path perpendicular to the bridge and parallel to a small hill before it.

Skye couldn't help but feel as though he had been there before, even though he most certainly had never been. The footprints he was following had led up to this point and had faded away under the sun.

Opening up a data report from the day before, Skye noted that this must have been the path Tylo and Miyu took to get to what they called "Saot onn Nieignn" in Loa which translates very conveniently into Japanese as "Ningen no Sato" or "Human Village" in English. There were also translations into Latin but English was Skye's first language so he'd stick to that.

However, he could not be so sure as there was no visual reference to refer to. So, as per logic's ruling, Skye decided to take a left turn from here and proceed from there. Wherever that would take him.

* * *

"Oh, hello Reimu." Keine said. "I see you brought the ali… I mean a friend along. What do you need?"

"I need money." said Tylo. Reimu cringed at the frank and tactless statement. "Translation, is there a job that the village requires done and nobody around can do?"

Keine nodded slowly, all the while keeping an eye on Tylo. She put a finger on her chin before she snapped said fingers and began speaking.

"Yes, there is one. Pretty recent actually. Akyuu wants someone to reseed her garden."

"Besides that."

Reimu raised an eyebrow in Tylo's direction.

"Oh, right. I forgot." Keine said and frowned. "Well…"

A common villager suddenly began running, although tripping several times, towards Keine. He was panting, half panicked and was nearly screaming in Keine's ears.

"Ms Keine! Ms Keine! I saw one of those things!"

"What things?" Keine turned from Tylo and Reimu and faced the villager.

"Those things! T-The… The… Those black things! The ones that… that…"

"How many people were killed in the attack?" Tylo interrupted, bringing horror to Reimu's and Keine's face by the extremely insensitive remark.

"A-All of them! They're all gone!"

"By just one?"

"Yes! All of them I tell you!"

Tylo cocked his head and faced Keine. "20 000 yen for the job. What do you say?"

"Huh? Err…" Keine stammered.

"Thank you. It will be done." Tylo said satisfied. With that, he turned and walked away. Reimu took a glance at him, at the villager and then at Keine. She bid her farewells and rushed after Tylo.

* * *

A large flower field lay before Skye. He didn't know for how long he was walking nor did he care. However, the pain in his body was easing off rather quickly to his pleasant surprise but the amount of biofoam in his RIG was already depleted. Radio on the other hand, sat on Skye's shoulder without a care in the world.

The last bit of residue biofoam was already 'evaporating' within the gel layer of Skye's RIG. Sunflowers were a good source of biomass for the production of biofoam. Since the field was so big… Perhaps nobody would mind if he just took one…

Suddenly, a crushing wave of dread swept over Skye as he reached out to pick a flower. His muscles froze up and his blood stopped, as though the Gods were just yelling at him not to do it. Skye could not pinpoint the exact cause for his paranoia but it was so overwhelming that it made Skye wish he never became a NanoTec soldier to begin with.

Finally, after nearly a minute of hesitation, Skye shrugged off the sensation such that it affected him only to a lesser extent. Skye gulped and reached his hand out to grab a stalk. Only to sense great danger in front him. Right in front.

Skye performed a sloppy and rather panicked backflip away from the massive stalks of sunflowers. He landed with his feet terribly off balance and he fell on to his back. Stumbling clumsily back onto his feet, through his heavily blurred visor, Skye saw a person emerging from the field of flowers.

Short green hair was the first thing Skye noticed. A large parasol was the second thing he noticed. She also wore a red and white plaid dress over a white undershirt, or at least that's what Skye saw. An eerie smile was carved on her face below a pair of large green eyes. Lolite obviously, or in Gensokyo's context, a youkai.

"It's been a long time since I've seen a human wander this far out. Long time…" The youkai said, indirectly to Skye.

She wasn't attacking yet. Good. Skye thought to himself as he forced his hand away from his laser rifle. However she knew he was a human was also beyond him. Maybe something to do with a 'Vis' or magic aura but that was not his biggest worry at that time.

"What are you doing here dear?" the lady asked. Her voice sounded calm and yet menacing. It chilled Skye's blood down to zero kelvin, but he was completely not 0K with it.

"Oh… Em…" Skye stammered. "I-I just lost my way. I am on a peaceful journey, yeah! That's all."

"Really?" she said with a condescending tone. "Were you not about to pick a flower for yourself?"

"Well… um… Yeah, I mean no. Of course not. Why would I?"

"Hmm?…" she said, or hummed, this time with a grin. "You know what happens to people who take my flowers now don't you?"

Skye was sure he did not want to know.

"Er… No?" Skye timidly replied.

OK, Skye was now genuinely scared. Not fearful for his life but fearful for a drawn out, long and painful fate. It was at this moment, Radio, who was still sitting on Skye's shoulder, began crackling.

"Eh?" Skye unconsciously reached for Radio, whom flew out of his hand's grasp.

"Hmm?" the green haired lady seemed to mutter under her breath. Was it curiosity? Probably not.

"180 degrees, close by!" Radio chirped, before Skye even asked his question.

Radio began crackling even louder. Now through his audio receptors, Skye made out the dull yet rising roar of an engine. No question as to what that was.

Skye flung his entire body well towards the right, chucking a couple electroshock grenades in the general direction Radio highlighted. Skye landed face down and slid a bit across the dry dirt. He placed both hands above his head and ducked.

The lady with the parasol would have thought Skye was crazy. Granted he was indeed crazy… slightly, but she did not say anything for the obvious reason that a large black hunk of metal crashed directly where Skye was a couple seconds ago, spiraling out of control before landing somewhere in the sunflower field, tracing out a nice long trough along its path.

Skye was very certain he heard something snap. Not his legs obviously. He would have felt that.

When he looked out from his hunkered down position, he saw that the lady with the parasol was standing where she was before but absolutely furious. Skye was even able to detect a subtle rise in her body temperature through his suits infrared scanners.

She turned slowly back towards Skye. Her eyes were closed and her body was shaking, almost violently. The corners of her face twitched as she began to speak.

"Human… Would you care to explain?"

Skye could only smile sheepishly. Of course, the lady could not see that under his helmet. I am a dead man. Skye thought to himself as he quickly typed out on his RIG, his last will and testament.

* * *

Tylo was cruising through the air at subsonic speeds with Reimu following effortlessly after. It was not everyday Tylo was sent on a wild goose chase for a rampant droid but it was for that very reason it was unique. He felt as though he could almost get used to it.

"Are you sure that… thing went this way?" Reimu yelled.

"The Spore? Yeah. I'm sure. It was programed that way."

"Huh?"

"I'll explain later."

That was obviously a lie. Tylo, in fact knew nothing about the inner working of a typical Spore droid, lest know about its programming. In fact, Tylo was basing his judgment purely on the vague directions given by the frantic villager and luck.

"Any further and we will fly over the Garden of the Sun." Reimu yelled over the roaring winds again. "You probably would not want to meet with its inhabitants or rather, inhabitant."

"Garden of whatnow?"

"The Sun."

"Right… Is that it?"

Just below Tylo at an angle of roughly 20 degrees was a patch of yellow that stretched way into the horizons. At a flight height of nearly a kilometer, this was extremely impressive and beautiful. It would have been a perfect shot for a computer's desktop if not for the fact that a pillar of smoke plumed up into the atmosphere from an isolated single spot within the sea of flowers.

"That's out target… It seemed to have done a rather sizable amount of damage on the surrounding area."

"Oh boy… Someone is going to be so angry." Reimu sighed.

"Who?"

"You'll see."

* * *

Skye backed away slowly from the green haired lady just as quickly as she approached. Skye stumbled to his feet and prepared to flee. He turned around and ran, only to find the lady just standing before him as though as she was there all the while.

"Tch, she's quick!" Skye shouted to himself.

"I am sure we still have some business to take care of human." The lady said, almost with a slither to her voice before she ran up into Skye's face within a blink of an eye.

Skye attempted to evade but was caught by his forward exhaust port. He saw the lady's blood red eyes gleam briefly before his entire world began spinning around him, forcing him back into unconsciousness.

"Egh! Got him!" Tylo yelled. "You?"

"Restrained and subdued… Things get a lot easier when they don't see it coming huh?" Reimu shouted back.

"Told you." Tylo yelled as he landed himself gently on the ground, ensuring that the unconscious Skye did not sustain any further injury.

Reimu floated down in a spiral, showering the subdued youkai with cards like amulets.

"You again." Reimu shook her head with her right hand on her forehead. "This is the third time this week. Could you be less violent before I exterminate you for good? Huh, Yuuka?"

Yuuka was pinned to the ground… Or at least a normal human would be absolutely crushed by the pinning. She simply just had one knee on the ground only.

The youkai merely smiled. "What can you expect? I have a right to defend my own property now don't I?"

Reimu replied to Yuuka again but Tylo did not hear it. Instead, he was following the dredge the Spore droid carved out of the flower field. He came across the desecrated corpse or wreck not too long after. It's armor was sleek black that absorbed almost all light shone onto it.

"Scout class…" Tylo identified it as he examined each and every single piece of debris and module. Strangely, each piece, other than being caked with some dirt, was in pristine condition.

From what he could conclude, this class had no armor. Instead it relied on a powerful magnetic field to hold it's pieces together and provide a sort of jamming effect to local electronics and communications. That was a property that was not going to be very useful in Gensokyo.

To have shattered the drone to such an extent would have required the destruction of the magnetic field. Knowing Skye, that's probably exactly what happened.

Tylo bent over and picked a black box like piece of debris from the pile, lest the drone reforms. He turned around and was face to face with Yuuka and Reimu.

"Are you done?" Reimu said impatiently. "I have convinced Yuuka not to kill you and your idiot friend… at least for today, so can we get out of here?"

"Yeah, yeah." Tylo said. "Yuuka… was it?"

The flower youkai smiled and nodded her head. "Remember that, human."

"You may have the rest of the Spore droid. Don't kill yourself."

"Who do you think I am?" growled Yuuka. "Did you really think you could bribe me with such a pitiful assert?"

"Yes. Excuse me." Tylo then walked past Yuuka and back out into the open field.

"Damn, he's an interesting one." Yukka muttered as she placed her left hand under her chin. "I've never met such a stuck up human in ages. It's as though he is asking to get himself killed."

"I know." Reimu half replied, half sighed. "He is very… cocky. I can't think of a better word and I can't believe I'm agreeing with you."

By the time Tylo exited the flower field, Skye had already regained consciousness and was seated upright on a little rock.

"So…" Tylo began. "First question, where were you? Second question, are you OK? Third question, why are you always the one getting injured?"

Skye simply sat there, letting his eyes roll all over the place. Finally, after recollecting his memories, he replied.

"Well, one, I got ambushed, lost my way and nearly died. Two, I feel half dead and I have a headache… Did I mention my helmet is jammed and my nose itches? Three, ask the author."

"Great." Tylo said. "And no, I am not carrying you. Walk."

"Piss."

"And by the way, I snuck you some sunflowers." Tylo pulled out a bundle of maimed and flattened sunflowers.

"Gee thanks." Skye replied as he stuffed the contents into his biofoam outlet. "Feels good. Thanks for the weed."

"Moving on… Reimu?"

"Yeah?" she called back.

"Did you inform the lady on what is going on?"

"Yes I have. I think she understands."

"Has she forgiven us for wrecking her backyard?"

"Somewhat."

"Fantastic. I get to live another day… Also, I have a lead on the Spores. Do you want to…"

"Back to the shrine first. No way am I going another step without a break. Sheesh, do you guys even know the importance of idle time?"

"So be it. Point me in the direction and let's go."

Reimu walked over to Tylo and placed her palm on his back. The area under Reimu's palm began warming up.

Skye watched the scene unfold with eyes wide open. He was unsure whether to laugh, cry or to simply run. He would probably have done all three if he was healthy enough to do so.

"Human, did you take the sunflowers?!" Yuuka yelled in the background. Grass-muffled footsteps began closing onto Skye's position.

Reimu shrugged her shoulders. "Well, well, well. Looks like we have no time. Hang tight boy."

She then put her palm on Skye's back as Radio found something to hold onto.

Skye turned to look and turned back to face the front. He closed his eyes and sighed as his back began warming up. Rapidly.

"Shit." he muttered.

 **To be continued.**


	10. The Next Step

**Das Author's Note:**

 **Hello viewers! Long time no see! Glad to see me back? No? I guess so. I'd like to apologies for the long wait on this chapter, for reasons as mentioned my notice before. Haven't seen the notice you say? Don't bother. The next chapter is here! So what are you all waiting for? Enjoy yourselves!**

 **Ps, I noticed a great influx of reviews, favorites and follows the instant I announced my temporary absence. Maybe I should go offline more often...**

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 **I'm just kidding. Please don't leave!**

* * *

The Next Step

It really was no surprise that a few moments later, Tylo came crashing down the roof of Reimu's shrine. Seeing as Skye was in no position to be walking around after sustaining severe injuries, Reimu had somehow caught him mid-flight so as to prevent his unconscious, 100 kilogram body and suit from crashing through her roof.

Needless to say, her hopes of an undamaged shrine were short lived.

Tylo, with his hands sticking out of the ground in one of which held the little black box he salvaged from the destroyed Spore drone, lay face first in the tatami mats next to Reimu's kotatsu. Reimu stormed up to the unmoving body of Tylo, dropped Skye into a heap next to her before delivering a powerful kick to Tylo's stomach.

"Damn it you!" Reimu raved while hopping on one foot, trying to ease the swelling forming in her other. "Couldn't you have come down any softer?!"

"No." Tylo's voice came muffled under the debris. "I had no fuel left."

Reimu pulled Tylo out of the floor with one hand by the nozzle of his jetpack which left him dangling near parallel to the ground.

"How you lift 100 kilogram objects with one hand is beyond me." Tylo mumbled to himself.

"Magic." Came Reimu's unexpected answer before she dropped him as well besides Skye.

"Right..." Tylo said as he lay Skye down on his back in a recovery position. "So, what do you want to talk about now?"

"I don't understand what is going on." Reimu said as she folded her arms. "I am sure you did not tell me everything when we first met. Spit it all out."

"Neither do I." Tylo said. "I am also learning new things as I go."

"So?"

"So, I'd prefer you to assist me more actively in my mission for your and my people's sake… You still remember how to use the rifle right?"

Reimu pulled the MGP-98 seemingly out of nowhere from her dress.

"I... guess. These things scare me."

"Good enough. Hold on to it. You will need it."

"Are you su..."

"Trust me."

Reimu sighed.

"Fine… Well, define actively."

"For starters, I assume you can hold your own in a firefight. So you will need to go your own way and help me uncover as much as possible about the Spores. By right, I have the telepathic rabbit… What's her name… Reisen. Yes, Reisen. She will be my main point of contact with each of us. If you somehow can utilize radio waves to communicate, that'll be great."

"Ahem, hello? I don't know how to use these 'radio waves' thing."

"Right. My bad. Hmm… Ah, take Marisa along with you."

"Huh?" Reimu almost jumped through the roof.

"Last I checked, her magic is really flashy. Use them to set up light signals in your language. I should be able to see them… That is if I am above ground and not somewhere playing real life CraftMine or something."

"What's CraftMine?" Reimu asked, tilting her head as though Tylo had said something utterly ridiculous.

"Oh, it's a game that was really popular on Earth in 2012. Or 200 years ago, give or take from today. Long time ago."

"Just remember you owe me a new roof… And floor."

"Yeah, yeah." Tylo said as he checked Skye's pulse. Judging from its rather erratic pattern, he was going to come back conscious right about…

Skye shot up and gasped. He shot glances first at Reimu, then at Tylo. He continued to turn his head in multiple random directions while taking short and quick breaths.

"What the *expletive *." Skye yelled with his translator off. Reimu thought he was singing and tilted her head in another direction. "Wha – What happened?"

"You are dead." Tylo said nonchalantly. "Look what you've done to Reimu's house."

Skye noticed the rays of the late afternoon sun streaming through the sizeable hole in the shrine's roof. Skye fainted again.

"Ah, well that's that." Tylo said, shrugging his shoulders ignoring the fact that Reimu was staring fiercely at him.

"What's that black box?" Reimu asked.

"Oh this?" Tylo said as he held the artefact up to his eye level. "Probably the scout's massive data core. From the looks of it, it could hold more than a trillion words worth of stuff. Might tell us something about the Spore's whereabouts."

"Can you really store words in such a… thing? I don't see how someone could write a trillion words on such a small and unwieldy thing?"

"You don't write on it silly. Have you been living under a ro… Oh, yes of course."

"Was that an insult?" Reimu fumed.

"No."

"Can you even get anything out of it?"

"Probably, but I wouldn't dare."

"Why?"

"Viruses. That thing could contain portholes designed to counter hackers like me. It would destroy my RIG."

"RIG…" Reimu muttered to herself seemingly in doubt as to what that device was. Ignoring that, she continued. "Viruses? You mean like diseases? I didn't know they could destroy computers too!"

"Yes, something like that. Close but not quite… And do you even know what a computer is anyway?"

"Well… I've heard the Kappa talking about such things, computers they called them. Says that it could revolutionise the world."

"Oh, then I've got news for… Wait, Kappa?"

"Err… Yeah?" Reimu said as though such topics were common speech.

"There are such creatures called Kappa in Gensokyo." Reimu continued. "What's so surprising about it?"

"Nothing I guess… I mean, NanoTec uses the code 'Kappa' for some stuff but OK, fine. Are they Lolites as well?"

"By definition of your strange vocabulary which I still can't quite get over, your 'Lolites' or Youkai as they are called here, pretty sure I've told you before, yes. Kappa are Youkai but are quite shy and not the typical stereotypical Youkai one may have in mind."

"Noted." Tylo put a finger on his chin. "That being said, perhaps you could get this cube to the Kappa."

Tylo then reached his hand out, handing the little black cube to Reimu whom took it with both hands on her palm. Reimu then lifted it up and down, inspecting every corner and niche of the cube and was utterly surprised to find no scratches on its perfectly shiny black surface and its slippery and yet dry texture.

"And this might not make much sense to you but listen carefully."

Reimu turned towards Tylo, silently.

"Tell the Kappa, whomever they are this. Say it exactly as I say. Got it?"

"I don't know why I am still listening but OK." Reimu said, signifying her willingness to pay attention.

"Jack this up to the mainframe core, calculate the alithogramic functions of its poly-systemic code in binary and hexadecimal and do take your time, maintain the electronic integrity of the data. Copy it into a hard disk and I will pay you for it later with interest."

"What?"

"Memorised it?"

"No…" Reimu said with a hint of embarrassment in her voice.

Tylo repeated himself.

Reimu nodded her head slightly.

"I think I got it but I really don't understand what it means. Is it even in Loa?"

"From English, it may not have translated 100% accurately but I am sure that the message will be brought across."

"English? What's that?"

Tylo sighed slightly. "My language. Not everyone speaks Loa you know. Especially people who come from the stars, like me."

"So does everyone up there speak English?"

"No. As far as I am concerned, we humans can't even decide on a single language to stick to. I mean, even in NanoTec, there is English, Latin, Mandarin, Spanish, Japanese (a language quite similar to Loa I dare say) and many more. I can't list you all the languages known and spoken by mankind because that will take all day and the next forty after."

"Ah… I see. Interesting." Reimu said. "Will you tell me more once we have time?"

"When were you ever interested?"

"I don't know."

"Whatever. I can."

"Really?"

"You have my word."

Reimu smiled or rather smirked upon hearing this.

"I will remember this."

"Yeah, yeah. Now go. We don't have very much time. Take the gun with you and this."

Tylo threw Reimu another one of his spare magazines for the rifle.

"Remember how I taught you to use it. Especially the bracing."

"Got it." Reimu replied.

"Ah, I almost forgot. Marisa should still be at the crash site. Find her and go." Tylo said.

"Don't worry. I will… Probably." Reimu said with a grin before taking flight, shooting into the evening rays in a blink of an eye.

Tylo then sat down next to Skye. He pushed a few buttons on his RIG which shocked Skye to his feet. Before Skye could say anything vaguely insulting or vulgar, Tylo began speaking.

"Hey, sleeping beauty. Time to go."

"Huh?"

"You heard me." Tylo said as he grabbed Skye by his jetpack. "We have people to return to."

"01-03. Do you read 01-01? I repeat, do you read 01-01?" Radio, whom was orbiting Skye's head began saying.

"Yeah, yeah." Skye muttered as he turned on his long range radio transmitter. "01-04. Read you loud and clear. Eta, soon. The miko is en-route. Out."

"We're out of fuel." Tylo said absent mindedly to Skye as he stood with his hands on his hips besides the empty wooden box in the front of the shrine. "How long do you think it will take us to get back, especially in the dark?"

"Don't know." Skye said as though it were no big deal. "I mean, you have these."

Skye brandished a deck of old charms. Tylo's jaws dropped.

"Wait a minute..." He said or rather squeaked. "Where did you find those from?"

"Your pockets."

"How did you… Never mind." Tylo said before eventually giving up. "What were you thinking of using them for any ways?"

"Teleportation. Although I was told I cannot use magic so I'd thought I would get you to try."

"Well then… I guess I don't mind… Were you told how to use magic by anyone? It is an interesting concept worth investigating after all."

"Agreed. The doll maker, err… Marisa's 'friend' says its as easy as concentrating a little."

Tylo pulled off his gauntlet, took the amulets from Skye and gripped them tightly. The cards then began glowing slightly.

"Woah! You've got it already!" Skye exclaimed, unable to contain his excitement. "Now try throw it with a portal in mind. Maybe it might work."

Tylo did as he was told and lo and behold, the amulets landed in a perfect square arrangement and the insides of the square was shrouded by a dim blue glow.

"Well… What's the worst that could happen." Skye said, grinning, while placing a hand on the flabbergasted Tylo before proceeding to walk towards the portal.

* * *

Reimu flew into the setting sun. Ahead was the dark silhouette of a massive mountain that seemed to occupy about two thirds of the horizon before her. Of course, that was Youkai Mountain and where she would find the Kappa. And assuming that Reimu could get by the over zealous Tengu lookouts, she would still have to convince the Kappa to share their technology with her, a 'mere human'. How that was going to be accomplished was as of yet, still beyond her.

She sighed as the light clouds brushed against her cheeks. That feeling would never get old Reimu thought to herself. Over years she looked at her flightless human brethren in the village and not bat an eyelid. Now that she had met the men from the stars, Reimu could not help but think about how privileged she was to be blessed with the abilities of seamless flight, and the extents that humans would take just to fly as she does. Be it with magic, or unknown devices that defy all of her logic.

Reimu's eyebrow twitched slightly. One might have passed it off as a natural occurrence but as an avid user of magic, competent danmaku duellist and a seasoned shrine maiden, she knew exactly what it meant.

Reimu cancelled out all her lateral velocity and conducted an intricate back-hand manoeuvrer that would have made any ballet dancer jealous. The incoming laser fire barely missed the shrine maiden, searing a few strands of her hair into sticky stumps.

An attack! Reimu's mind raced. It happened too quickly and the weird but deadly 'danmaku' if it even could be called so could barely be seen even in the dying dusk of the evening. Reimu looked around with sharp, intuitive jerks of her head. Nothing, short of a couple of flashes in the forests below could be seen out of the ordinary.

"Damn it!" Reimu swore to herself before back-flipping, dodging another laser beam that was aimed right up her dress. Reimu turned her head downwards and saw a brief shadow dart away as fast as the wind.

It's a Spore machine thingy. Reimu concluded in her mind. However, nothing would change much. It was just another opponent, and like the past incidents, an opponent that would be cut down without mercy.

Reimu adjusted her eyes to the tree top level. Before long, she spotted the tiny shadow at the canopy of the temperate forests skirting the leaves briefly before stopping again. Reimu cartwheeled to the left and avoided yet another laser attack.

This time, she felt the heat of the ionizing air particles just a few millimetres from her skin that registered like a mild prickling sensation. Whatever that thing was, it was getting more and more accurate. Was it predicting my moves? Reimu began to worry slightly.

Within that same second, Reimu shrugged off her fears. Smiling slightly, she mumbled to herself.

"All right little robot. You're going down."

Pulling out her gohei, Reimu then dived down towards the little shadow which in response, blasted off backwards away from Reimu, towards Youkai Mountain.

As with every opening salvo, Reimu unleashed a simple barrage of dumb cards which did not home in to the target. The droid, seemingly not registering them as attacks, took every single hit to its body. Reimu reeled back in half-shock. Those cards, when fired at weak youkai, fairies or humans, they would collapse in pure agony. If Reimu wished, she could really kill them with shock. Except the fairies. They regenerate.

So it really was unnatural to see something short of a god or Yukari to take more than two of those cards and not go down, or worse yet, flinch. The cards, upon hitting the droid literally crumpled up on its smooth and shiny body before being blown away by the wind.

Reimu dodged yet another attack from it. Nine seconds, Reimu identified the firing interval for the Spore droid. It did not seem like a lot of time but gave her ample time to close in, attack and retreat back to a safe distance.

"This danmaku is fast! What ever the hell that is!" Reimu exclaimed to herself as she narrowly avoided having a hole cauterized through her chest. "It's like the men in suits! Near invisible danmaku, is fired right at you and would most certainly incapacitate or kill in one hit! That should be illegal!"

The fact is that, according to the official spell card rules put in place by Reimu, they were indeed illegal, and so were the droids and the NanoTec members if Gensokyo ever had a proper immigration policy put in place.

The shrine maiden dove beneath the forest foliage, avoided another shot that set the entire canopy on fire before coming up right under the droid. Reimu climbed onto the droid and with some effort, pried the laser rifle out of its hand and threw it away as far as she possibly could.

The Spore droid, responding to the threat attempted to reach over its back to unhinge its aggressor. Failing miserably, it then began spinning violently and soaring high up into the sky. Reimu held on with a death grip. She remained on board.

Reimu pulled the assault rifle out of her outfit and after anchoring herself tightly to the spinning droid, she placed the weapon's stock as comfortably as she could on her shoulders and braced the front with her opposite hand. The barrel was placed on the back of the droid's neck and not long after, the piece of alien equipment were nothing but burning embers falling from the sky.

* * *

The shrine maiden, still in flight would have sighed in relief. Except she forgot that Newton's First Law of Motion existed and that she was still hurtling towards a small plateau located on Youkai Mountain. The inhabitants of a nearby shrine did not stir. The guards from the Tengu village however, did.

"Halt!" A piercing yell filled Reimu's ears.

Her eyes' vision were still extremely blurry and she saw double spinning images of everything. Before her outside the sizeable crater she lay in was what looked like a Tengu, wore a Tengu hat, had white hair, a white tail and brandished a broadsword and a circular shield with a maple leaf on the front. Unable to completely focus on the subject, Reimu eyed both images of the person and decided she preferred the image on the right.

"Who goes ther… Oh, it's you Reimu." The bellowing voice toned down into a milder yet stern voice.

"Ah… Hello there Momiji." Reimu said softly. "Did I get it?"

"Huh? What are you talking about?… Come, can you stand?" Momiji inquired as she extended a hand towards Reimu.

"Yeah, yeah." Reimu said as she stumbled to her feet, tripped over the edges of the crater, casually did a front roll, and ended up on her feet.

"What are you doing here, and at such an… unlikely hour?"

"Errands." Reimu said as she refocused her vision on the wolf Tengu. "And investigating an incident… Say, good timing."

"Wha…?"

"Tell me." Reimu said as she brought her face as close to that of Momiji's. The latter turned her face away in bewilderment and perhaps, disgust. "You wouldn't have happened to see a… Spore droid around here have you?"

"What are you talking about you silly shrine maiden? You sure you did not hit you head too hard now did you?"

"No, I am fine… Ahem, let me rephrase that. Seen anything strange around?"

"No! I mean, why don't you ask the Kappa? As much as I hate to say this, they probably know more about this matter than I do, now please, go bother them instead!"

Reimu receded from Momiji.

"You sure?"

"Well, I… Err… I, what do you mean strange?"

"Like, strange purple flying things?" Reimu elaborated while tilting her head slightly.

"Hmm… Not really but I have heard things about them… Yes, that's right."

"Good." Reimu said, putting her arms on her hips, looking extremely pleased with herself almost as though she did not just slam into the ground at a fraction of the speed of sound. "With that, I shall be off, and fortunately for you, I am not headed for your village. Good night."

"OK… Good night I guess." Momiji said, waving sheepishly as Reimu walked down a nearby path.

As Reimu disappeared into the mist that had just seemed to appear, Momiji stopped waving and sighed. What an encounter. She thought to herself. Maybe I should go and switch shifts.

And thus, Reimu began her search for the Kappa Residence. She knew that it was somewhere in the area, just not sure on exactly where it was. And worry not, she found it eventually… At least after she remembered she forgot to take Marisa with her.

* * *

"Stand down you two." Tylo said, waving his hand in a downwards gesture. "It is us."

Moho and Miyu, looked at each other and nodded as they observed Tylo and Skye emerge from the moonlit foliage.

"Reisen and Marisa are their names right?" Skye began. "Are they still here?"

"Affirmative. Reisen is asleep. Marisa had taken off towards Youki Mountain or something as soon as your radio transmission came in."

"OK. Noted."

"Should we establish a listening post around the local area sir?" Miyu asked.

"I was thinking of just that." Tylo nodded. "Seeing that so many Spore drones are in operation here and that so many inhabitants in this area have seen them, I am beginning to believe that they are flying in patterns. So…"

"So, if we make out the patterns, we can pinpoint the exact location of the base of operations of the Spores." Miyu said, finishing Tylo's sentence.

"Correct. How early can you get them up?"

"Already done so sir." Moho said, before Miyu could reply."

"Are you telling me that both of you acted autonomously without orders?" Tylo suddenly said with a deep and threatening voice.

"Huh?" Miyu and Moho said simultaneously. "Well…"

"That's as good as disobeying orders you know that? The consequences are severe, I hope you realise."

"Oh err…" Moho began. Miyu remained silent. "Please don't court marshal us. We acted for what was the best for us sir!"

"Don't worry. I won't have you lot court marshalled. It will be much worse."

The silence was deafening.

"Err… Sir?" Skye began before being cut off by Tylo's swift arm gesture.

"I'll give you all a break! Go and rest." Tylo suddenly said whilst maintaining an uncanny deep and menacing voice.

"What? I thought you…"

Tylo suddenly laughed. "I was joking! Idiots! Good job on the instillation. Just give me a report on what it has discovered for us before I really decide to have you all court marshalled."

"Eh? Umm… Roger that." Miyu yelped.

* * *

Reimu tripped over a strange metallic object and almost fell face first into mud if it were not for her flight powers. Taking a closer look at the item in question, she realized that it was a sizeable wheel made out of mild steel… or at least that was what was written on it.

Why haven't I seen it before? Reimu wondered to herself, considering the fact that she had been walking in circles for the past hour or so. Never mind that she thought to herself again as she reached her hand out to turn the wheel. One might have convinced themselves to do otherwise but that was instinct for you.

An array of danmaku turrets popped out of the ground the moment Reimu touched the wheel. All of them began glowing brightly as they pointed their barrels at the shrine maiden.

"*State your purpose for visit within 20 seconds. Else, leave or we atomize your face.*"

Reimu sighed. It was going to be a long night.

The wheel, or as Reimu now knew as a 'bulkhead' slid into the ground before the latter split open cleanly, revealing a white walled, futuristic looking shaft complete with a ladder going about ten meters down. Looking around and seeing that nobody was around, Reimu gathered all the demolished danmaku turrets in her hand, threw them all into a nearby ditch before dropping herself down the hole, closing the bulkhead as she went.

* * *

Nitori Kappashiro, the most famous kappa in all of Gensokyo for perhaps, not the right reasons, picked up her giant green backpack with on hand and toothbrush in the other as she prepared to embark on a trip for undisclosed reasons.

With a yawn, she put her gear on and with an enthusiastic tone with each step she took, Nitori almost skipped out of her room and into the collective Kappa enclave hallway where she was greeted ever so abruptly by the shrine maiden in the middle of the hallway.

"Ah! Great timing!" Reimu said, rather pleased with herself. "I would like to talk to you."

Nitori did not even reply. She had fainted from shock.

About five minutes later, and after almost all the Kappa present gathered around their unconscious comrade, Nitori pushed herself back up to a seated position. She stretched and yawned before seeing Reimu kneeling next to her in the middle of the collective hallway and realizing that she was not getting up from bed.

"Wahh! Where did you come from?!" Nitori exclaimed with a squeak. "And what do you want?! I didn't do anything this time! I swear!"

The crowd bellowed with laughter. Reimu sighed.

"Calm down. I am not here to exterminate you. Ironically, I am on an errand… And it involves money."

A chorus of murmuring began emanating from the crowd.

"How much?" Nitori said with an aura of seemingly forgetting everything that happened before.

"Don't know. How much do you think this is worth?"

Reimu brandished the little black box. Her action was followed by gasps of awe from the other Kappa.

"Doesn't seem like something you'd make. Where did you find that?" Nitori asked.

"What's his name… This Tylo guy did. You need not know the details on how he got it because I didn't see him pick it up."

"Yeah whatever… Let me see it."

"No way. I have an errand to run."

"What! It's just a fetch quest right? Letting me see won't hurt a bit!" Nitori began growing impatient.

"No, before I exterminate you… Oh wait, you have a computer right?"

"Laptop actually."

"Right… Oh, you're Nitori right?"

The crowd erupted yet again into uncontrollable laughter.

"You mean you don't even know the names of those you beat up?!"

"Whatever. I was actually supposed to deliver this to you."

"Then why didn't you say so earlier?!"

"I was just fooling around." Reimu laughed half-heartedly. "Hmm… What was I supposed to say again? Something like… Jack this up to some mainframe core thingy, calculate the alithogramic functions of its poly-systemic code in binary and hexadecimal and err… Take your time. Also, try and maintain the electronic integrity of the data. Copy it into a hard disk and I will pay you for it later with interest… Oh, I actually remembered it!"

Nitori sighed, dusted herself off and stood up.

"Fine! You owe me big time!" Nitori huffed as she strode into her room. "Follow me." She called out, directing it towards Reimu.

The crowd of Kappa burst into murmuring again as Reimu walked into the room.

"And for the record, I am not, NOT in any freaky relationship with this disgusting shrine maiden!" Nitori stuck her head into the hallway to yell before slamming the door shut.

* * *

"Yes?" Keine, dressed in her nightgown, called out as she opened the door to her house, only to be surprised to see Tylo and Miyu standing before her. With noticeable bags below her eyes and a significant drag to her voice, Keine spoke.

"Oh, you people. Whilst I don't have a full understanding of your culture and practices, here in Gensokyo, it is quite rude to visit someone past midnight…" Keine eyed the two for a moment before continuing. "Especially when it involves money."

"In my society, it is not particularly nice to delay payment to someone especially after he or she has done you a favour."

"Hmph." Keine folded her arms and shook her head. "I suppose it can't be helped. Come in."

Tylo and Miyu did just that. The house was, unexpectedly under furnished and rather plain looking from the inside.

"How did you all even know that this was my house? It would have been pretty embarrassing if you had walked into the wrong house now wouldn't it? Keine asked with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"Well… We just looked for the biggest house in the central areas of the village. Leaders usually have the biggest houses here. Or at least the most powerful do." Miyu said as-a-matter-of-factly.

Keine scratched her head. "I suppose that reasoning is valid but not all powerful people here in Gensokyo live in rather impoverished conditions."

"What, like Reimu?" Tylo asked off the bat.

"No comment."

"Wait, you mean she is one of the most powerful people here?"

"You didn't know that? I'm surprised. Maybe I might have underestimated your intelligence."

"I never really saw her as a fighter… One learns something new everyday, or am I just forgetful?"

"Yeah, yeah…" Keine said, yawned, stretched before yawning again. A bag of silver landed in Tylo's arms. "Here's your 20 000 yen worth of silver. Check."

Tylo passed the bag of money to Miyu.

"Can you count the money outside?" Keine asked impatiently and with her eyebrow twitching. "You people are denying me my well deserved sleep."

"Right, right. Farewell." Tylo said as he ushered Miyu out of the house.

"By the way, have you sighted anything else that is in any way…"

Before Tylo could finish his sentence, he was lifted up by some unearthly force and soon found himself soaring through the air, crashing face first on the ground before hearing the door slam behind him.

"Women are scary sometimes." Tylo said as he pulled himself back to his feet.

Miyu stifled a snicker.

"Is all the money there?"

Miyu nodded.

"Good. So, according to our listening post there should be a Spore patrol flying overhead us in about 15 minutes?"

"I guess so. But our predictions are not 100% correct yet. We have only observed their movements for less than 48 hours."

"Doesn't matter. Let's find some place to hunker down a bit. We can return in a few hours time."

"Roger that."

* * *

The blonde witch silently glided through the night. Despite being well aware of the dangers that lurked amidst the canopy below her or the clouds that were above, she was nothing but determined to find her friend.

"That damn Reimu." Marisa grumbled with the NanoTec rifle tucked awkwardly under her arm. "She owes me a thousand yen for leaving so abruptly ze. When I find her… I'm going to… What am I going to do? Hmm… Never mind."

Marisa inspected the rifle she had. Sleek, black, compact and many other features already mentioned in the previous chapter, I mean three hours ago. She pulled out the magazine, dropped it by accident and caught it mid-air just as she gave herself a new hairstyle by skimming the top of the forest below.

The dragon breath rounds were still there and at least 60 more were present in her dress. Smiling slightly to herself, she readjusted her hair, pulled out a couple twigs and leaves from the mess and fired a single round at the fairy that was barely keeping up with her, terminating its three minute long life and guaranteeing it yet another inconvenient respawn cycle.

The magnesium flares lingered in the air for a noticeable amount of time, shining like stars in the darkness. Flashy.

Marisa turned and looked forwards again. Her vision was obscured by a blur of brown and patches of green with a little white at the top of her vision. Strange, she thought to herself. I've never seen such a weird phenomena in Gensokyo before. The white slowly disappeared and the brown and green begun getting more and more distinct, separating themselves from each other.

Travelling at high speeds do cause visual blurs. Marisa recalled. After all, she was an avid fast flyer. What was green and brown, or brown and green? She continued thinking. Dirt and grass probably. So… Putting two and two together, Marisa suddenly had a brainwave, as though a lightbulb lit up above her head. All of that took roughly half a second and a bit.

And then it hit her.

* * *

The walls of Nitori's laboratory crumbled and water began rushing in in bucketfuls. The breach was quickly patched by automated machinery, but only partially. Reimu and Nitori jumped at the sudden noise, look around at the wrecked machinery before the former's face soured as she saw the drenched upper body of Marisa poking through the wall.

"Yo." She said with her usual voice as she rubbed her head. "Never thought I'd find you here. What's up?"

"Ah, yes. I forgot to pick you up. My bad." Reimu said.

"Exactly! Glad you realize… By the way, where am I?"

"In my lab!" Nitori fumed. "Which you just wrecked!"

"Oops." Marisa shrugged her shoulders.

"Never mind that." Reimu said impatiently. "Have you done it yet?"

"Done what?"

"The… You know, calculating the alithogramic functions of its poly-systemic..."

"Right, right… Hmm… Yes, I have." Nitori said with a sigh as she handed the miko a harddisk and the black box back. "You owe me."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll find a way to bill Tylo for this."

"You mean that guy you went ahead and…"

"Never mind." The miko quickly said before Nitori could say anything not-safe-for-work.

Reimu got up from her seat and stretched.

"Great. I got what I came for. Nitori, you'll get your payment… one day. Marisa, let's go."

"But I'm stuck!"

"You'll live."

"Hey!"

"I don't fancy her being there all night." Nitori said, crossed arms with one eye closed. "Maybe remove her… Hmm… Ah, using this!"

A bottle rocket launcher appeared out of no where.

"H-Hey! Wait!" Marisa tried to protest.

"No hard feelings." Nitori began. "The lab's trashed already anyway and I do want to test this new piece of equipment out too."

"Oh for f…" Marisa tried saying before being hit in the face with a water train filled with anvils.

* * *

"You're quite late, you know that?" Tylo said, whist seated on the foldable ladder of his escape pod. "I know, hunter killer drones and all but really, did it really take you four hours to get back here?"

"Well… Yes, killer things and all… And Marisa insisted she go home and get a change of clothes. I was sleepy and went home to take a short nap." Reimu said as-a-matter-of-factly.

"…Fine." Tylo said with a sigh, obviously wary with fatigue. "You have the harddisk?"

Reimu patted her attire in multiple locations. A look of shock jumped onto her face.

"Oh no. I think it fell out on the way back here." Reimu said as she pulled out the black box. "At least I still have this."

"Good job ze!" Marisa said sarcastically. "I knew we could count on you!"

Tylo audibly groaned through his helmet and stood up slowly, bracing his body weight on his rifle.

"Well then, let's go find it." Tylo said as he cracked his neck. "Can't leave young girls like yourselves wander off this late now can I?"

Marisa's face flushed red. "Oi! Don't patronize me ze! I can take care of myself and probably better than you can yourself!"

Reimu shrugged her shoulders for the umpteenth time. "That's just his way of showing concern." She said nonchalantly. "No harm done, and don't ask me how I know that."

"It's best we walk." Tylo said, seemingly ignoring everything that Marisa said. "It will be easier to find the disk that way and we do want to be quick about it… Before someone, or something gets its hands on it first."

"You don't have to make it so scary…" Reimu said as she shuddered at the thought of that something.

"You're right. Women are scary enough." Tylo said jokingly without laughing.

"Y-You…" Marisa raised a finger before putting it back down again, completely lost for words. She knew he was right, especially in Gensokyo.

* * *

Tylo spent the next few minutes stumbling and tripping over unseen roots and vines, much to the amusement of Reimu and Marisa, who were not tripping over anything due to their convenient flight powers. It was completely dark and with Tylo leading the way, the two girls only had the soldier's footsteps to guide them and as for Tylo, his infra-red scanning was not doing a particularly good job.

Reimu was about to give up, turn around and fly off but she tripped and pivoted over something cold and hard, only to realise it was a crouched down Tylo. The soldier caught the spinning Reimu, put his hand over her mouth to muffle her sudden yelp of surprise, and told her to keep quiet.

Reimu tried to ask what was going on but Tylo put his other hand's finger on his lips… Or at least the brim of his helmet. He then pointed to a faint light in the forest clearing that Reimu only just noticed.

Squinting a little, Reimu made out a thousand fireflies and two shadows within the light. One was standing and holding something out, while the other was on its posterior backed up against a rock.

Reimu lunged out on instinct to help, but was held back by Tylo and even Marisa. Tylo shook his head as he readied his rifle, his eyes looking down the scope.

The loud bang followed a split second after and the first shadow flinched from the impact. Tylo pulled Reimu towards the side and dived for another bush. The initial bush he was hiding behind was vaporised instantly, leaving nothing but glass in its place.

"Spore Heavy Assault." Tylo mumbled to Reimu and Marisa. "Find some cover. Quick!"

They did as they were told.

It was a 1v1 fight. A NanoTec Special Force Unit and a Spore Heavy Assault. As far as Tylo could tell, it was not an even fight. At least, not in Tylo's favour anyway. He poked his rifle out of cover, fired a couple of shots before finding another set of bushes as his previous one was blown away.

"No good…" Tylo mumbled to himself. "I can't put a dent in that thing with a rifle like this."

"Reimu! Marisa! Let's go, I don't think… Wha…?" Tylo began before realising that both of them had disappeared from their original position.

Tylo immediately peeked out of his cover only to see that the bright light illuminating the clearing in the trees had, in fact, grown much, much brighter. Another two shadows, appearing to have merged together were ironically the source of the additional brightness.

Tylo fired another volley at the droid, took a glancing hit to his left ankle and dove behind a rock.

The soldier winced at the pain despite the immediate flow of bio foam into his wound. At this point, the light that emanated from the clearing flooded the area. Suddenly, a yell resounded in the night, pierced the heavens and the light out glowed everything.

"Heaven Sign!" A chorus of two voices echoed. "Fantasy Spark!"

* * *

"Please be patient. Girls are cooling down and preparing for… Kaw!"

A talking crow flew away frantically as the fallen tree it perched on was pushed away by a half buried Tylo whose armour was caked with dirt and ash.

"What…?" Tylo stuttered, flabbergasted. "What the hell was that?! A crossover episode?!"

Reimu and Marisa, both still holding onto the mini hakkero which was billowing thick black smoke, stood in the epicentre of what seemed to be ground zero of a thermonuclear weapon. Trees were uprooted and lay scattered, some burnt to ash, in the general vicinity and whatever fireflies that were present before were almost certainly dispersed or disintegrated by the attack.

"Heh! Well, that'll show him ze!" Said a voice.

"That was awesome!" Came the other voice. "I can't believe we pulled it off! It's a shame about the hakkero though…"

"Yeah! You owe me big time!"

The shadow of the shrine maiden turned towards the still dazed soldier.

"And now, have I proven to you that we can hold our own against these invaders without your weapons?"

"Yeah! Who needs stealth when we have this!" Said Marisa's silhouette.

"Uh, fine… I guess." Tylo stammered. "I stand corrected."

He got up, dusted himself off warily and walked over to the unidentified victim of the Spore attack, who was lying on the ground in a fetal position.

Before Tylo could say anything vaguely untactful, Reimu walked past him and crouched by the figure.

"Wriggle? Ah, yes it's you. Are you OK?"

"H-Huh? The S-Shrine Maiden?!"

"Yes, it's me. Are you hurt?"

"No… Thank you for saving me! There was this big red metal thing and it kept asking me to hand something over or something… And then there was this big explosion, I-I don't know what is going on!"

"Relax, you're safe now."

"I can't thank you enough! How could I ever repay you?"

"Sorry to butt in like this." Tylo began, walking forwards. "My name is Tylo, a friend of the shrine maiden. You want a way to repay us, am I right to say that?"

Wriggle, obviously intimidated, backed away slightly. Ignoring the glare of disapproval from Reimu, Tylo knelt down and put a hand forwards to the scared Lolite.

"Don't worry, I intend you no harm. In fact, could you help me?"

She timidly nodded.

"Right. I am not sure, but have you seen a flat, grey like thing with a light at an end? A hard disk if you would."

"Y-You mean this?" Wriggle asked as she pulled out exactly what Tylo described.

"Ah, you have it! Wonderful!" The NanoTec soldier took it from Wriggle's hands.

He stood up and yawned.

"Well, we found what we were looking for. Reimu, Marisa, let's go."

"And leave this poor girl here? All alone?" Reimu asked sternly.

"Alright, fine." Tylo shrugged his shoulders. "Marisa?"

"I'll accompany Reimu. I dare not leave her with you."

"Duly noted. And I can't let you two out of my sights either, lest you get yourselves killed. The last fight just now was in your favour as the Spore droid was searching for me. Not you."

"Blah, blah, blah. I'm sorry." Marisa jeered. "I can't hear you over how awesome we were."

"Fine, fine." Tylo said, with a tinge of fatigue and a dash of exasperation in his voice. "I'll wait here. Finish what you need to please."

Tylo then plugged the hard disk into a port in his RIG. Reimu meanwhile, spoke to the Youkai.

"OK, I need you to tell me exactly what happened." Reimu asked as quietly as she could.

Wriggle hesitated a little before replying. "W-Well, I was just out here, minding my own business when I found that… small thing lying on the ground. I picked it up to see what it was… And then…"

Reimu nodded her head, ushering the Youkai to continue. She obliged.

"And then my light bugs lit the area up so I could see better, and that was when…" The youkai began to sob. "I was so scared…"

"It's alright. I am here now." Reimu reassured her again.

"That's right ze! We will kick any and all of their asses." Marisa interjected with a wide grin.

"Thanks…" Wriggle said quietly.

"Now, listen carefully." Reimu said. "These… things, Spores, I believe is what the outsiders call them, are attracted to light."

"It's a study protocol." Tylo interrupted.

"Whatever. Don't light up areas of the forest again, at least until this incident is resolved. That will keep you safe."

"But… Doing so is my job!"

"It can't be helped, sorry."

Wriggle then stood up and wiped the tears off her face.

"O-OK… Thank you again shrine maiden… I have to go now. Bye!"

"Take care!" Reimu shouted after as the little silhouette faded into the undergrowth.

"Never saw you as someone who could talk like that ze." Marisa commented.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Reimu turned and half yelled.

"She has a point." Tylo said. Although Reimu could not be sure, she almost saw a grin under that helmet of his. "But never mind that for now. Right now, I have identified a Spore forward base of operations."

Reimu and Marisa stared at Tylo as though he was speaking, yet again, in an alien tongue.

"If you all are coming along with us, I suggest you pack your bags now. We are leaving tomorrow morning."

"So fast?"

"Time and the enemy waits for no one." Tylo said with confidence.

"Ugh. Fine…" Marisa groaned. "And here I was thinking that you'd be so nice as to give us a short break. Most incidents are over in 45 minutes anyway."

"Not in my world." Tylo said, shrugging his shoulders.

"So where exactly are we going?" Reimu asked while tapping her feet on the ground.

Tylo pointed downwards. "We are going underground."

"Again?!" Reimu stood, shocked and appalled. "I nearly got toasted the last time I went there!"

"In that case…" Tylo tossed Reimu a bag filled with 10 000 Yen in coins. "Deliver this to the kappa for me. I did say I was going to repay them after all."

"Oh for god's sake." Reimu groaned.

 **To be continued.**


End file.
